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THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: https://bibleinayearonline.com/november-oyb/?version=63&startmmdd=0101
November 1, 2026
(Rev 7:9-10) After
this, I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all
nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne
and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their
hands. And they cried with a loud voice, saying: Salvation to our God,
who sitteth upon the throne and to the Lamb.
CATHOLIC WORLD REPORT: The Solemnity of All Saints and the pursuit of holiness
FATHER JEFFREY F. KIRBY: Saints are a ‘Cloud of Witnesses’ guiding us to union with God
EXCERPT HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS BENEDICT XVI (1 November 2006): Holy Mass on the Solemnity of All Saints
Our Eucharistic celebration began
with the exhortation: "Let us all rejoice in the Lord". The liturgy
invites us to share in the heavenly jubilation of the Saints, to taste
their joy. The Saints are not a small caste of chosen souls but an
innumerable crowd to which the liturgy urges us to raise our eyes. This
multitude not only includes the officially recognized Saints, but the
baptized of every epoch and nation who sought to carry out the divine
will faithfully and lovingly. We are unacquainted with the faces and
even the names of many of them, but with the eyes of faith we see them
shine in God's firmament like glorious stars.
Today, the Church is celebrating
her dignity as "Mother of the Saints, an image of the Eternal City" (A.
Manzoni), and displays her beauty as the immaculate Bride of Christ,
source and model of all holiness. She certainly does not lack
contentious or even rebellious children, but it is in the Saints that
she recognizes her characteristic features and precisely in them
savours her deepest joy.
In the first reading, the author of
the Book of Revelation describes them as "a great multitude which no
man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and
tongues" (Rv 7: 9).
This people includes the Saints of
the Old Testament, starting with the righteous Abel and the faithful
Patriarch, Abraham, those of the New Testament, the numerous early
Christian Martyrs and the Blesseds and Saints of later centuries, to
the witnesses of Christ in this epoch of ours.
They are all brought together by
the common desire to incarnate the Gospel in their lives under the
impulse of the Holy Spirit, the life-giving spirit of the People of God.
But "why should our praise and glorification, or even the celebration of this Solemnity, mean anything to the Saints?". A famous homily of St Bernard for All Saints' Day
begins with this question. It could equally well be asked today. And
the response the Saint offers us is also timely: "The Saints", he says,
"have no need of honour from us; neither does our devotion add the
slightest thing to what is theirs.... But I tell you, when I think of
them, I feel myself inflamed by a tremendous yearning" (Disc. 2, Opera
Omnia Cisterc. 5, 364ff.).
This, then, is the meaning of
today's Solemnity: looking at the shining example of the Saints to
reawaken within us the great longing to be like them; happy to live
near God, in his light, in the great family of God's friends. Being a
Saint means living close to God, to live in his family. And this is the
vocation of us all, vigorously reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council
and solemnly proposed today for our attention.
But how can we become holy, friends
of God? We can first give a negative answer to this question: to be a
Saint requires neither extraordinary actions or works nor the
possession of exceptional charisms. Then comes the positive reply: it
is necessary first of all to listen to Jesus and then to follow him
without losing heart when faced by difficulties. "If anyone serves me",
he warns us, "he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant
be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honour him" (Jn 12: 26).
Like the grain of wheat buried in
the earth, those who trust him and love him sincerely accept dying to
themselves. Indeed, he knows that whoever seeks to keep his life for
himself loses it, and whoever gives himself, loses himself, and in this
very way finds life (cf. Jn 12: 24-25).
The Church's experience shows that
every form of holiness, even if it follows different paths, always
passes through the Way of the Cross, the way of self-denial. The
Saints' biographies describe men and women who, docile to the divine
plan, sometimes faced unspeakable trials and suffering, persecution and
martyrdom. They persevered in their commitment: "they... have come out
of the great tribulation", one reads in Revelation, "they have washed
their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Rv 7: 14).
Their names are written in the book of life (cf. Rv 20: 12) and Heaven
is their eternal dwelling-place.
The example of the Saints
encourages us to follow in their same footsteps and to experience the
joy of those who trust in God, for the one true cause of sorrow and
unhappiness for men and women is to live far from him.
Prayer
request? Send an email to: [email protected]
"Have ANY
Catholic Question? Just ask Ron Smith at: [email protected]
This month's archive can be found at: https://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.