Fr. Jim Solemnity of All Saints 11/1/20

This weekend, we celebrate the solemnity of All Saints. Who are the saints? The simple answer…all those who have died and are now in heaven with God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. “After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.’” Who is called to be a saint? Everyone! The Second Vatican Council refers to this as the universal call to holiness. From the moment of conception, every human person is called by God to spend eternity with Him in heaven. We have a desire for God written in our hearts. This desire ought to motivate us to choose good and to turn away from evil. The problem…not everyone chooses good. Many choose evil. This is why Jesus became one of us and died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. Saints are those who choose to turn to Jesus with a humble and contrite heart and recognize the need for His mercy. This is called “being in the state of grace”. The great multitude from every nation, race, people, and tongue are the saints. They died in the state of grace. In other words, at the moment of death, they did not have the stain of serious sin on their souls, which can separate us from God for all of eternity if we don’t confess our sins to Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation before we die. All those who are in heaven are the saints with a small “s”. The saints with a big “S” are those who have been officially recognized by the Church as being in heaven. They lived an exemplary life of virtue and holiness while alive and continue to inspire the faithful after death. Every November, the Church prays for the souls of the faithful departed in hopes that they will be purified from any attachment to sin that they may still have after death so that they can enter into the fullness of God’s glory in heaven. We believe that our prayers, united with Jesus’ offering of Himself on the cross, can make a difference in the lives of these souls in purgatory. We believe that these souls can be purified and cleansed by the blood of the Lamb of God who sits on the throne at the right hand of God the Father in heaven. This Lamb is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. This is why the Mass is so powerful. When we pray for the dead at Mass, we are bringing them to the foot of the cross and offering them to Jesus. He purifies them and cleanses them of all their disordered attachments to sin. Friends, let us take this invitation to pray for the dead seriously. We have been given the privilege of participating in the sanctification of souls. May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace.

Amen

Fr. Jim Lowe, CC