Homily for All Saints
Fr. Albert
St. Peter Catholic Church, New Iberia
All of the saints, want all of you, to be saints too. I said as much in the collect – the opening prayer – for this mass, which says that these holy intercessors are praying for our reconciliation to God. And what else is a saint if not someone who has been fully and perfectly reconciled to God.
All of the saints, want all of you, to be saints too. The 144,000 are witness to this. Some of our brethren make much of this number, but they have forgotten how to read sacred text of the apocalypse. This number, like the infamous 666 is a symbolic one. Twelve Tribes of Israel times Twelve Apostles times 1,000 – a number representing inclusiveness and universality. As if to emphasize this, the vision goes on to show us not just 144,000 but “a great multitude which no one could count from every nation, race, people, and tongue.”
All of the saints, want all of you, to be saints too. As we just sang “this is the people that longs to see your face.” Such a desire can’t help but include all those who share in that divine resemblance. Every one of us, made in the image of God, remind each holy one – each saint – of the face of God which they so long to see. It is also natural – Divine – that a friend takes delight in the children of their friends. So too each of the saints, adopted by God and heirs of his glory, takes delight in all of Gods children. Each of us here, baptized into the divine family, are the recipients of the perfected love of every saint. They long for us to become what we are meant to be, even though “what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” Then we, like all the saints, will love that face and all who bear its resemblance.
All of the saints, want all of you, to be saints too. Such are those who can truly be called blessed. Blessed in their poverty, they want us to know the wealth that comes from possessing nothing but God Himself. Blessed because they mourned their sins and the sins of the whole world, these saints hope that we learn from them just how much greater is the consolation such sorrow brings. Blessed in receiving the mercy of God, they show us mercy now even as we celebrate them. Though sharing in eternal bliss, they think of us, pray for us, and show us the mercy that will make us blessed too.
All of the saints, want all of you, to be saints too. So again will I pray in the words over the offering we are about to make. “Grant that, just as we believe the Saints to be already assured of immortality, so we may experience their concern for our salvation.” And what better way to experience it than to share the foretaste here and now in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, in the reception of communion. We call today a solemnity, the highest of feasts, and so seriously do we take this feast that we require all Catholics to celebrate it. Indeed, it is the command of God that we rejoice, not just by going to Mass, but throughout the day in how we act, in what we eat and drink.
All of the saints, want all of you, to be saints too. Yes, the idea of actually becoming a saint may seem impossible. Yes, your sins plague you and your weakness blinds you. Yes, it seems a long and impossible road – one that many of us would rather avoid if we can just get by – but we already knew that. It is impossible for us to make ourselves saints, but nothing is impossible for God. Do you live and breathe? Have you received the gift of God in Baptism? Then you are called – and can in fact become – a saint. Do not be afraid; It’s been done before, and you are not alone. All of the saints, want all of you, to be saints too.
