1 November 2019
Solemnity of All Saints
The saints in heaven are “like him” we learn in the 2nd reading of today’s mass. And what does it mean to be “like him”? Read over the Gospel. Jesus describes himself in the Beatitudes. He is the poor in spirit, the merciful one etc. And because those in heaven are like him they possess the kingdom of heaven. And who are they?
“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.” And their number is astronomical, as we learn from the 1st reading: “a great multitude, which no one could count.” Christ’s sacrifice was made for them and, while on earth, they cooperated in it, sometimes without consciously realizing what they were doing, for it is he who wills the salvation of all.
Today’s feast invites us to “see what love the Father has bestowed on us that we should be called children of God. Yet so we are.” This is the effect of what is called “divine filiation”.
And so, today’s feast invites us, through the contemplation of the saints in heaven, to focus on the glory of God the Father, who created us, the mercy of Jesus on the Cross, who redeemed us and the power of the Holy Spirit who creates this divine filiation within us.
Today then, in adoration and thanksgiving, let us pray in union with the saints in heaven for the salvation and glorification of all on earth.