All Saint’s Message

The month of November begins with the Solemnity of All Saints. It is a good occasion to recall the fundamental calling which God bestows every human being - a call to holiness.

On the pages of the Holy Scriptures, both the Old and New Testaments, we find a call to us to be saints. Already in the Book of Kings we read: "Because I am the Lord your God - sanctify yourselves. Be holy, because I am holy" (Leviticus 11:44). This appeal from the Old Testament continues to be relevant also in the New Testament age. Jesus Christ teaches: "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt 5:48).

The call to holiness is not merely an encouragement. We should see this calling as an indispensable requirement of being a Christian. For we are Christians to the extent that we fulfill Christ's call to holiness in our lives. The law of our Church reminds us that the call to holiness is not only an encouragement, but a duty of every baptized person. In the Code of Canon Law, the Legislator, discussing the duties and rights of all the faithful, states unequivocally that “All the Christian faithful must direct their efforts to lead a holy life and to promote the growth of the Church and its continual sanctification, according to their own condition” (can. 210).

The above evangelical indications and legal postulates are in harmony with the teaching of the Church. In number 941 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, we are reminded of the truth that all the baptized are called to holiness. Baptism, therefore, begins a process of sanctification that lasts uninterruptedly until the end of each person's earthly pilgrimage. God and man participate in this process. God, who is holy by nature, grants holiness to man.

This happens insofar as man opens himself to God's grace in accordance with the principle that God communicates himself to man according to the human desire. Therefore, when we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints and consider the call to holiness, which our brothers and sisters have already accomplished to a perfect degree before us, it is worth asking ourselves once again how much this desire to be holy is alive in me, to what extent is this call fulfilled, in our own daily life. Or maybe it is so, that the cares of this temporal and passing world drown out in me that is most beautiful, what is the most important, for what is worth giving life? And that is undoubtedly our sanctification. For - as our Savior says - What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? (Mt 16:26).

Yes, the Solemnity of All Saints makes us realize once again that if it were not for Christ, if it were not for his death and resurrection, no one would be saved. That is why He died on the cross, to bring to His Father an innumerable multitude of the saved - to make countless multitudes of sinners God's friends and saints.

If something in our lives needs to be improved, let us do it now, because then it may be too late. That is why it is really worth remembering that all of us – including you and I – are called to holiness. " This is the will of God, your holiness: that you refrain from immorality " said the apostle Paul (1 Thessalonians 4:3).

The whole purpose of our creation, the whole purpose of our redemption is so that we may be fully united with God in every aspect of our being. We exist for union; we were created for union; we were redeemed for eternal union. The sooner we're transformed the happier and the more "fulfilled" we'll be. The only way to the fulfillment of all desire is to undertake and complete the journey to God. “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt 5:48).

Until Tomorrow

fr. george