Word to the Wise
Saturday, November 1, 2025 - Nov 1: All Saints
[Rev 7:2-4,9-14; 1 John 3:1-3; Matt 5:1-12a]See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know usis that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God's children now; 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. Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure. [1 John]
There has been a lot of excitement this year over the canonizations of Sts. Carlo Acutis and Pier Giorgio Frassati OPL. (We Dominicans have been especially excited because St. Pier Giorgo was a member of a branch of our order called "The Dominican Laity.") But canonizations go on throughout the year without huge general notice except for the folks with a particular interest in the individual(s) being canonized. The interest in Sts. Carlo and Pier Giorgio may be due to their youth and the fact that this has been a "jubilee" year in the Church. What can be lost in all of this is the fact that we are all called to sanctity by virtue of our baptism. Canonization simply calls attention to individuals whom the Body of Christ wishes to honor for their example to all of us. We can all be "saints" but most of us will not be "Saints."
The feast of All Saints calls attention not just to the canonized Saints but to all the saints who faithfully live the Christian life - the Communion of Saints. One does not have to be dead to be a saint! One must strive for that love of God and neighbor to which we are all called by baptism. We probably know people whom we consider to be great examples to the rest of us. It is the combination of love of God and neighbor that will characterize anyone (all of us) who strives for sanctity. They and we are all sinners as well. (Some Saints were notoriously difficult to live with!)
The universal call to holiness is emphasized in the documents of the Second Vatican Council. This feast day is a great reminder of that call. AMEN