HOMILY FOR THE SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS.
THEME: How happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
BY: Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA.
HOMILY FOR TUESDAY NOVEMBER 1 2022.
*READINGS OF THE DAY*
Apocalypse 7:2-4,9-14
Psalm 23:1-6
1 John 3:1-3
Matthew 5:1-12
*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
WHITE
*INTRODUCTION*
Dear brothers and sisters, today we celebrate in a special the solemnity of All Saints. On this All Saints Day, we rejoice in the glory of all the saints, both the ones whose names and lives are known to us, as well as the many other innumerable holy men and women of God out there who are saints, and yet not known to us.
*WHO ARE THE SAINTS?*
The saints are all those holy men and women of God who have been deemed by the Church after a period of scrutiny and exploration, as worthy of God and as deserving of the glory of Heaven. The process of the declaration of someone as Saint is one that is usually lengthy one, as one went from being a Servant of God, Venerable, and then Blessed or Beatus and finally Saint. All those things are meant to highlight that being a Saint means that the person, his or her life and actions are truly worthy of God and of being exemplary Christians. This is to ensure that the person mentioned as saints are truly worthy of veneration and honour, and being followed by other Christians as good role models and inspirations.
*FROM OUR FIRST READING*
Today’s first reading speaks of a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language… standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb’. Such a huge number are likely to be here among us, as well as in heaven before God and his Son.
*FROM OUR SECOND READING*
Today’s second reading tells us that in the life to come we shall be like God; yet, it also declares that here and now we are already the children of God. We already share in the Lord’s own relationship with God, in virtue of our baptism.
*FROM OUR GOSPEL READING*
The beatitudes, which form today’s gospel reading, are Jesus’ self-portrait as well as his portrait of the saint, his faithful disciple. The qualities articulated in the various beatitudes find full expression in his life. Jesus calls on us to learn from him so that his qualities become ours and we grow more and more into his likeness.
*CONCLUSION*
At the end of our earthly journey, we will come to that eternal moment when, in the words of the second reading, ‘we shall become like God, because we shall see him as he really is’. Then, we will finally be holy as God is holy, loving as God is loving, and we will join that ‘huge number, impossible to count’, referred to in the first reading. I came across a statement recently which I found.
Happy Blessed Feast of All Saints.