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Institute for Homiletics

A Collaboration of The Catholic Foundation and the University of Dallas

All Saints

All in the Family

All Saints is the wonderful feast that reminds us how God rejoices in having a  family of infinite variety, children who strive to trust in God, even in the midst of  trials and difficulties, and who remain open to the working of the Holy Spirit in  their lives so that Christ can be born again and again in our world. 

The Beatitudes offer a profile of God’s children. They should be heard first as  good news, as gospel, proclaiming where God is to be found: with the poor in  spirit, the mourners, the gentle, those who hunger and thirst for God’s righteousness—that is, those concerned with living in right relationship with God, others,  oneself, and all the earth. In Jesus’ day these were not the usual crowd who were  declared blessed, esteemed, and honored. 

Only after hearing the Beatitudes as gospel should we hear them as a summons to action so our lives mirror the divine face revealed in Jesus: the face of  mercy, of cleanliness of heart (a heart open to God), of peacemaking and reconciling, and of willingly suffering rejection in order to help bring about a world of  righteous relationships. 

God continues to work in us by sending the Holy Spirit, the gift of the Father  and the Son, into our hearts to push and prod us, sometimes gently, sometimes  forcefully, into a new birth, again and again, until we gradually grow up to become  the divine offspring we are destined to be, God’s holy ones, the saints.

Consider/Discuss

  • Who are some of the saints God has brought into your life within the  last year? Ten years? Your lifetime? 
  • How do the Beatitudes speak a word of gospel to you? How do they  summon you to action? 

Responding to the Word

Creator God, we thank you for the multitudes from every nation, race, people,  and tongue who have heard your call to live in love, and to work for peace, reconciliation, and justice in our world. Draw us into deeper kinship with them so that we might one day join them in the kin-dom of heaven. 

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Scripture Study for

John the seer relates two extraordinary apocalyptic visions that were granted  to him. Although they differ, the second adds a dimension to the first. The events  of the first vision seem to unfold on earth; those of the second take place in  heaven. Both visions depict vast assemblies of the righteous. There is no suggestion that these people are martyrs. Instead they are those who have survived  the distress of the end-times because they were purified through the blood of  the sacrificial Lamb. This distinction certainly entitles them to participate in the  celebration held at the end of time.

The love of which the author of First John speaks is generative, transforming.  It makes believers children of God. Everything that happens in their lives is a  consequence of their having been recreated as God’s children. They are a new  reality; hence, they are not accepted by the world, the old reality. Certain similarities between Jesus and the believers are drawn. The world did not recognize  the only begotten Son of God and it does not recognize these new children of  God. The implications of this are clear. Believers should not be surprised if they  encounter the very rejection—even persecution and death—that befell Jesus. 

The teachings of Jesus are all in some way directed toward the establishment  of the reign of God. The type of behavior he advocates is frequently the opposite  of that espoused by society at large. This explains the challenges set before us  in the Beatitudes. The first and the third Beatitudes claim that power is in the  hands of the meek and the poor. The second and the fourth promise the alleviation of inner turmoil. The fifth, sixth, and seventh Beatitudes treat aspects of religious piety. The last Beatitude clearly warns that commitment to Jesus’ cause can  bring persecution. It is clear that each Beatitude invites us to turn the standards  of our world and our way of life upside down and inside out.

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Distant Alleluias

Jesus breathed his last. He made no sound. Mary and the beloved  disciple listened for his voice. No sound came. He was no more. The  silence beneath the cross must have been unbearable. 

At the death of a loved one, a hole opens up. Someone who had  traveled with us is no more. We call out. No one answers. The silence  can be unbearable. 

On these days of All Saints and All Souls, how can we celebrate  the dead? Death is not to be dismissed lightly. Death is emptiness.  Death is heartache. Death is real. 

And yet . . . 

I remember once thinking that I was hearing angelic voices. I was  sitting in the teachers’ lounge. I turned, for it sounded as though  it was coming from outside the window. On that spring day, the  choir director had the high school girls practicing for Mass, singing  alleluias by the pond. The window was closed. The music was far  away. But it was sweet. It was pure. It was a taste of celestial joy. 

Listen! Can you hear it? The far-off sound of singing rings in  our ears.

In the Gospel, Mary and John had to wait three days before they  heard Jesus’ voice again. You and I, we’ll wait longer than three days  to hear the voices of those we love. But while we wait, we listen. Can  you hear it? 

We may not yet hear the roaring hallelujahs of heaven. But alleluias  from a distance trickle into our silence. Tiny notes of gladness  sprinkle into our grief. Joyous memories, warm stories, favorite  songs, the granddaughter who looks so like her grandmother—we  have tastes of eternity, even while here on earth. Those we love are  not dead. They are alive. 

Today, we celebrate! The blessed have come through victorious.  Listen! Can you hear the singing? Maybe they’re even . . . dancing? 

Consider/Discuss 

  • What distant alleluias have you heard that have given you hope? What  glimmers of eternity have you seen? 
  • One of my favorite things about All Saints Day is the people who come to  Mass. The 4:30 p.m. Saturday Mass saints seem to gather with the 7:30  a.m. Sunday saints and the 10:30 a.m. saints—all of the holy people of a parish come together in one space. This is a taste of heaven on earth, a joy  to be together. It might even be a good day for a party. Who do you most  hope to see when you get to the celebration of heaven?  

Living and Praying with the Word 

Alleluia, alleluia! Let the holy anthem rise! Jesus, you showed us  that death is not the final answer. Let the choirs of heaven chant  it in the temple of the skies! As you rose, we also want to rise. We  want to run and greet those we love. Saints among the saints, we live  in joyful hope of that day. Thank you for this day to celebrate our  hope. Most of all, we want to celebrate you! Thank you for making  it all possible.

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Scripture Study for

As the Lamb breaks open the seals on the scroll, the world enters  a prelude to the final divine judgment, in which those who have been  faithful to God will receive their reward. In preparation for that  judgment, an angel comes forth to sign and protect the saved from  the impending disaster. The number 144,000 (twelve squared times  one thousand) is symbolic of the saved of Israel, which is joined by  a vast multitude from all the nations. The focus in Revelation is on  those who have suffered for their faith, thus the imagery of white  robes and palms that has become associated with martyrs. Those  who have been saved offer eternal worship to the God and the Lamb  who have saved them. 

The central theme of the First Letter of John is the reciprocal love  of God for humans, love of humans for God, and love of humans  for one another. The love of God, which is primary, has been made  manifest in Christ. Those who accept this love will love in return  through obedience to God and care for neighbor. This love is what  allows us to abide in God and in Christ, which in turn perfects us  and makes us children of God. This is the unimaginable promise of  what is to come. But, in addition to abiding in Christ, believers must  also be wary of the “world,” that social reality that is hostile to God  and which constantly seeks to draw us away from God.  

Near the beginning of his ministry, Jesus presents the fundamental  themes of his teaching in the Sermon on the Mount. Portrayed as  the “new Moses” in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus stands as the definitive  interpreter of the Law and of God’s will. The Beatitudes are a  classic wisdom form, in which the ways of the righteous are laid  out for those who would be “blessed” (or “happy”). Jesus’ version  of this wisdom theme signals that his teaching and his ministry will  focus less on perfection of religious observance (which one might  mistakenly consider the equivalent of being “righteous”), and more  on qualities associated with humility, vulnerability, and openness to  God’s will and action in their lives.

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The Faces of Holiness

In an interview, the Dalai Lama talked about the importance of recognizing  one quality that all the world religions share as a common value—the virtue of  compassion. This virtue is held up for imitation by all the major religious tradi tions: Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism. It helps us to view  each other with respect and appreciation. 

Today’s feast invites us to think about all the holy men and women who have  opened their lives to God’s grace and have embodied compassion in the world  over the centuries. From the early days of the church the names of the martyrs  were mentioned during Eucharist. Today we can remember all the holy ones who  have touched our lives—men and women, family and friends, canonized and  uncanonized saints over the centuries. 

The last book of the Bible, Revelation, written at a time of persecution, offers  us a symbolic vision of the end time when a multitude from every nation, race,  people, and tongue will be gathered together. These are the ones who have  been sealed as true servants of God and will sing an eternal song of salvation.  We hope to be part of that jubilant chorus. 

In the meantime, we are surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses who urge  us on to complete our task of living as beloved children of God, to live out the  plan of the kingdom Jesus preached in the Beatitudes, and to be a presence in  the world of God’s Spirit. 

Consider/Discuss

  • Who are some of the saints who have touched your life over the years? • Are there any “living saints” in your life now? 
  • Which of the Beatitudes best speaks to you as a way to holiness at  this time? 

Responding to the Word

We may give thanks to God for the call to holiness we have heard in our own  hearts and include the names of those who have shown us what it means to be  holy. Ask the saints to continue to intercede for us so that we will be faithful in  our efforts to bring about the kingdom of heaven.

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