Tuesday, November 1, 2022

 Solemnity of All Saints

(Revelation 7:2-4.9-14; I John3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12a)

 Halloween traditions have a murky background.  Do the wearing of masks and the prominence of skeletons celebrate a time-conditioned rising from the dead?  Or are customs of dressing in clothes of various cultures and periods indicative of the plethora of saints in Church history.  Because Halloween immediately precedes All Saints and not All Souls Day, the latter answer appears more on target.

Today’s readings testify to many kinds of people becoming saints throughout the centuries.  Revelation says it directly.  A “great multitude…from every nation, race people, and tongue” participate in the heavenly court.  John’s letter indicates that people must purify themselves to gain such a standing.  The beatitudes describe those who have gone through the process of purification.  They are the poor and humble, peacemakers and pursuers of justice. 

All Saints Day reminds us of the past which we readily forget as we preoccupy ourselves with the here and now.  It tells us of the faith of our predecessors in God whom we can marginalize in our quest for self-fulfillment.  It emboldens us to imitate their virtue so that we too might reach their standing in eternal life.