November 1, 2023

Solemnity of All Saints (Year A)

Today we celebrate All Saints’ Day commemorating the blessed men and women who dedicated their lives to God in special and unique ways. Many of these holy saints, apostles, and martyrs, are unknown to us, but a lot of them, we also know specifically by name. They are honored for their charitable good works, theological accomplishments, visionary abilities, and especially martyrdom. Many of them have also had posthumous miracles attributed to them earning them the title of “patron saint” for their intercession on behalf of those still living.

In the First Reading for today from the book of Revelation (Rev. 7:2-4, 9-14) we get a glimpse of what the heavenly realm of these canonized saints might look like. Here the author, who identifies himself as John, shares one of his many visions reminiscent of the book of Daniel which contains a prophecy about a secret message in a sealed book concerning the end of times (Dan. 12:4).

Replete with symbolism, the passage describes the celebration taking place before the opening of the seventh of seven sealed scrolls containing this information known only to God. Present at the celebration are a special group of one hundred and forty-four thousand, a symbolic number representing the twelve tribes of the chosen nation Israel (Rev. 7:4). This “new” Israel of John’s vision also includes people from all over the world: “a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue.” (Rev. 9a).

This great multitude of people are described as wearing white robes and holding palm branches as they stand around the throne of the Lamb who represents Jesus. Along with the angels, and the rest of the hosts of heaven, they sing a song of praise to the Lord: “Blessing and glory, wisdom, and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” (Rev. 7:12).

One of the “elders” present describes for the visionary the identity of those wearing the white robes: “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:14b).

In the days of the author John, these would have been the faithful Christians who suffered the bloody persecution under the Roman Emperor, possibly Domitian, toward the end of the first century AD. They are also representative of the saints we celebrate today who sacrificed their lives in some form in the name of Jesus and have now become honored members of the kingdom of God.

When Christians pray the Apostles’ Creed, we acknowledge this group in a specific way by saying we believe in the “Communion of Saints.” Many who pray the Creed may not be aware that the Communion of Saints includes, not only the saints remembered on this feast day, but also all the faithful, both living and dead, who dedicate themselves to Christ. It is clearly defined by the Catechism of the Catholic Church: “We believe in the communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who are pilgrims on earth, the dead who are being purified, and the blessed in heaven, all together forming one Church.” (CCC #962).

This means that we, too, can be members of the Communion of Saints. Although we might not consider ourselves to be particularly saintly, in the Gospel for today (Mt. 5:1-12a) Jesus tells us how we can live holy lives. This is the passage where Jesus teaches from the mountain to the crowd below in the speech known as the Sermon on the Mount.

Here Jesus offers a list of “Beatitudes,” or blessings we receive if we imitate some of the traits he exhibited in his lifetime. He first describes the poor in spirit (Mt. 5:3a), those who lack self-reliance, instead depending on the grace of God. Speaking for himself, Jesus says, ““Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing.” (John 5:19a).

Jesus also mentions those who mourn and will be comforted (Mt. 5:4). We see this happen with Jesus when an angel comforts him as he mourns his own life in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:43). Jesus later gives up his life, like the meek in Matthew who will inherit the land (Mt. 5:5). As St. Paul tells us, “He humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” (Phil. 2:8).

We also know that Jesus was merciful (Mt. 5:7), healing many sick people of their ailments and offering forgiveness to sinners. Because of his human nature, Jesus was able to identify with the weaknesses of sinners. He was tested like us in every way, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15), meaning he was clean of heart like those in the beatitude (Mt. 5:8a).

And more so than any of the previous verses, Jesus was a man who hungered and was persecuted for the sake of righteousness (Mt. 5:6, 10). In fact, his sole purpose was “righteousness,” to conform to the will of God to bring about the plan of salvation. We hear Jesus pray in the garden, ““My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet, not as I will, but as you will.” (Mt. 26:39b).

With these Beatitudes, Jesus asks us to do nothing more than he had done during his ministry. He offers us a path to holiness in imitation of himself so that we might perform his work here on earth. This is why we pray every day, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” In so doing, we become members of the Communion of Saints and joined to those worshiping God in heaven.