Today we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints. Declared by Pope Boniface IV in 609 A.D, the day celebrates all holy men and women of God we do not know about, men and women who are not on the list of canonized saints, yet we know they lived, and we believe they enjoy eternal fellowship with God. These are the uncanonized saints who form part of the “great multitude” in heaven, men and women “who have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb” as the John tells us in the Book of Revelation. Besides celebrating their lives and seeking their intercession, we also look at them as role models who can inspire us in our own pursuit of holiness.
An Odd Experiment
A story is told about a wealthy Frenchman Alfred de Pierre-court who left his entire fortune to fund an experiment of “growing giants.” He wanted his city of Rouen in France to go throughout the world and look for men and women who are tall, big, and strong and pair them up as couples in homes so that they could give birth to a generation of men and women who were “giants.” The city honored his will, but the experiment fizzled out in just two years without any good results of giants coming out of it.
Spiritual Giants
On this Solemnity of All Saints, we hear about a different man, Jesus Christ who left a different legacy. A legacy of not of “growing physical giants” like Alfred de Pierre-court desired, but a legacy of “growing spiritual giants.” In the Gospel Jesus offers us a formula that can help us grow into spiritual giants. He mentions poverty of spirit, meekness of heart, hunger and thirst for God, the practice of mercy, purity of spirit, being peacemakers, and the practice of courageous perseverance amidst persecution.
Heavenly Role Models
The people we honor today and believe enjoy eternal fellowship with God, are people who made effort to live out this formula Jesus. They were poor in spirit - in other words, material concerns were not their principal concern. They were meek - which means they were gentle, considerate, and forgiving. They were merciful - in other words they made allowance for human limitations. They were pure in heart - which means their single most aim was to please God and do good to their neighbor. They were peacemakers-both with themselves, their neighbor and with their God. Their goodness brought them persecution of all kinds including ridicule, torture, prison, and to some even death – but they courageously persevered and lived with hope in God. Every time we make an effort to practice any of these virtues the Lord proposes, we start growing in our spiritual stature or spiritual size.
We Are All Called to be Saints
The Second Vatican Council wrote a whole Chapter called The Universal Call to Holiness. May this feast day – the Solemnity of All Saints- remind us of our own call to become better than we currently live. May the Lord through the Eucharist and other Sacraments, and through His Holy Spirit empower us to embrace and practice what He preached so that at the end of time we too are counted among those “who washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.”
- Father Fred's inspirational homily was recorded live during Mass at the Father Peyton Center this morning. You can view the Mass (and the Rosary at the 30-minute mark) on the Family Rosary YouTube page.
- To join the Rosary and Mass Livestream, visit the Family Rosary YouTube or Facebook page at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, Monday – Friday. Consider inviting others to join too! (*If you are not a member of Facebook and a signup window appears, simply select the X at the top of the pop-up message and continue to the livestream.)
