11/01/2025
The Solemnity of All Saints: We Are All Called to Holiness
Dear Beloved in Christ,
Today, November 1, is a Solemnity, the highest ranking of Church celebrations after Sundays. It honors all saints in heaven—both those canonized and the countless faithful whose names are known only to God. When combined with tomorrow's All Souls Day, they form "Allhallowtide"—a sacred time when the veil between heaven and earth seems to grow thin, and we experience in a special way our deep communion with all God's faithful, both living and deceased. The two days reveal the beautiful architecture of God's kingdom and His eternal love for all His children.
First, All Saints' Day: On this Holy Day of Obligation, the Church honors not just the great saints whose names are familiar to us but those millions of holy men and women whose names are known only to God.
Throughout the centuries, countless people have lived lives of extraordinary holiness and sanctity. Some were famous martyrs whose blood watered the earth in testimony to Christ. Others were humble, unknown souls—a mother who raised children in faith despite poverty, a laborer who worked with integrity and kindness, a widow who cared for the sick with tender love, a child who trusted God through suffering. Their names may never appear in any earthly record, yet God knows each one perfectly, and they live eternally in His radiant presence.
All Saints' Day says to the whole world: All of these holy ones are our brothers and sisters. They are part of our spiritual family. And we are all called to the same holiness they attained.
On this Solemnity, the Gospel give us the beautiful Beatitudes from Matthew 5, the path to sainthood: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."
My dear beloved in Christ, the Church is telling us that the path to sainthood, to the holiness that All Saints' Day celebrates, is the path of recognizing our absolute dependence on God and stripping away the pride and self-sufficiency that separate us from Him. It is the path of allowing ourselves to grieve over sin, over injustice, over the suffering of the world, and bringing all this brokenness to God's compassionate heart. It is the path of meekness—not weakness—but the strength of gentleness, of allowing God's will to triumph over our own willfulness. It is the path of righteousness—hungering and thirsting for justice and truth as fiercely as a person hungry and thirsty for food and water.
All of this culminates in this magnificent truth: You are called to this holiness. It is not reserved for a special few. It is not something that happens to exceptional people. It is, as Pope John Paul II called it, the "universal call to holiness"—every baptized Christian, regardless of their state in life, their talents, their circumstances, is invited and called to become a saint.
The Solemnity of All Saints celebrates a living, vibrant spiritual reality called the Communion of Saints. The saints in heaven have not abandoned us. They are not distant, unreachable figures in a distant kingdom. Rather, they are our spiritual brothers and sisters, powerfully united to us in Christ, and they intercede for us before God's throne. They see what we struggle with. They understand our temptations, our sorrows, our joys. And they pray for us with love.
The saints who have reached heaven are not sitting passively in bliss. They are actively, lovingly interceding for those of us still struggling on earth. They are petitioning God on our behalf. They are using their influence with the Almighty to bring grace, mercy, and blessings into our lives.
When we pray to a saint, we are not worshipping them—that honor belongs to God alone. Rather, we are asking them, as we might ask a trusted friend, to pray for us, to support us, to help us grow in holiness. As we celebrate this Solemnity, dear friend, the Church is also calling upon each of us to reflect seriously on our own vocation to holiness.
May peace be with you...