Celebrate the Feast of All Saints!

God has called us all to a life of holiness. God calls us all to be saints. What it means is that we daily stop and first worship and thank God for Himself, for our life and talents and for our family and friends — all gifts to us by God. Secondly, it means that we do our best to do and be the best and to love our neighbor, as ourselves.

If we ended up on a statue or on a stainedglass window or a holy card, that would be great, but that is not what is most important. What we are now and forever among God’s friends in His heavenly kingdom is what is most important. Our daily motto must be to do first for God then for neighbor. Then we will be saints.

Our first reading from Revelations gives a heavenly scenario of countless thousands from every nation, standing before God and the Lamb, singing in thanksgiving. Our second reading from a Letter of St. John gives God’s children on earth encouragement — letting them know that they are only a few steps away from the entrance into that same glory – heaven. The promises that Jesus made on earth are accurate. and the Beatitudes are the key to sainthood and eternal life.

If we want to truly mean the responsorial Psalm, then we need to live the Beatitudes out in our daily life. In this way we indeed show the Lord: these are the people who long to see your face. This great feast gives us all a glimpse of God’s promise of eternal life, for all who put their hope in the Lord. This feast reminds us that the clouds of witnesses are certainly more numerous than the official listing of canonized saints.

The faith life of those unnamed saints, living ordinary lives in extraordinary ways, is still seen all around us today. We have to watch, look and listen to others and their hidden lives, and they will reveal and show real saints in action. Holiness is not uniformity but rather “Be who you are and be that well, as a witness to the Master Craftsman who created you.”

Remember, also that sanctity is not solely the monopoly of the Catholic Church. Whenever anyone chooses an action reflecting God’s love and directed toward God’s goodness, holiness flourishes. There are saints in all faiths. It is putting one’s faith into action that makes one a saint, not just believing.

Each and every one of us can aspire to be a saint; it is not restricted to those who live unimaginably exceptional lives. For all we know, there may be thousands of saints for every saint who has actually been canonized.

We are all called to be saints, so let us strive to be holy and in our ordinary way live out the Beatitudes. Perhaps the challenge is to take a virtue that you believe symbolizes how you best want to live your life, pray daily to God for its success and act daily on it.