Homily for the Solemnity of All Saints, November 1, 2020, Year A
Fr. Ignatius Manfredonia
Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate
Bloomington, IN
The Feast of All Saints refers to every human person who is in heaven. We know about 9,000 of these souls. The Roman Martyrology lists them by name, however, the great majority of the souls in heaven we don't know… In Saint John's vision he states that there is a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. Now, how do we square that with the gospel when our Lord says that there will be few who will be saved?
Our Lord said that many travel down that wide and easy road that leads to perdition and few find the narrow and difficult way that leads to heaven. How is it possible that St. John sees a great multitude?
We need to understand that a great multitude could refer to a billion people. But, compared with perhaps five billion people who are lost it's relatively few. When our Lord says that many will be lost and few will be saved, he's talking about relative numbers.
Here’s what we know about the great multitude. We know that they are from every nation, race, people, and tongue. We know that they are all wearing white robes and they are holding palm branches in their hands – the palms the sign of victory. We know that they are acknowledging our Lord Jesus Christ the Lamb of God, and that salvation comes from him. They are singing this hymn of praise and giving honor, blessing, glory, and power to God for ever and ever.
We know that these souls died and possess sanctifying grace. That is the condition without which it is impossible to live in heaven. Sanctifying grace is that divine life within our souls that enables us to live in heaven with God.
So these souls possess sanctifying grace are in heaven and are blessed. They are blessed. They no longer possess the virtue of hope. Hope is gone because they are now in possession of everything that they could have hoped for or desired here on earth. They are in that place of safety. There is no more worry, no more concern about struggle and possibly being lost… They are in a place of perfect safety and security, peace, exhilarating joy which comes from that divine life that they are participating in in fullness.
God is life and they are filled with the life of God. They experience friendship; friendship with God, friendship with the Angels, friendship with the other saints. They experience incredible freedom; the freedom of the sons of God, and rest; eternal rest. No more fatigue, no more labor, no more sweat. So hope is gone. They are in complete possession of what they hoped for.
Faith is also gone. They see God face to face. They see him as he is, without the veil of faith. Without any mediation. They see him face to face and that vision of God is like nothing they ever could have imagined. That's what the scripture has revealed to us that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, neither has it entered into the mind of man what God has prepared for those who love him.
In today's second reading, St. John says in his letter 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. That's about all we know. And so, these souls when they come face-to-face with God, it is like nothing they could have ever imagined.
Now think about how that should change our lives here on earth.
When a saint is brought into the light of glory and sees God face to face, do they see how petty those worries and concerns were that they had? How their one concern should have been simply to love God and love neighbor and to serve him generously. So not only do they know God because they see him face to face, but they also know they are known by God, of course. They are now known by all of the angels and all of the Saints; and they know themselves with a clarity that they did not know themselves here on earth.
In their uniqueness, and in their uniqueness and individuality in their person, they are not only accepted… but they are warmly embraced with loving friendship in the life of heaven by everyone which also contributes to the joy that the soul experiences in heaven. This true family of God experiencing this family bond in its fullness. They also experience, of course, love. They are loving God with that same intensity with which they loved him at the moment of their death.
Here on earth, sometimes we can experience, when God permits, his love, his consolations, his nearness, his friendship. Sometimes we can experience that from other human persons. But in heaven, it completely resonates within the soul. It is sensed, experienced, felt, known, and acknowledged in its fullness; from God and from all of the Angels, and all of the saints. So this love is immense, it is warm, it is totally fulfilling. There are no further desires to have. It completely satisfies our hearts. It is intimate and it is personal. And this is what every human soul is longing for.
They see our Lady at the right hand of her Son. They see her in all of her glory and splendor, the woman wrapped with the Sun. And just like with God, who they can't understand fully, because he is infinite, they don't fully comprehend our Lady either. That's how great she is, and yet, they know very well that she is their mother, and that she was beside them, and that she mediated every single grace and goodness that came from God as its source. That every single grace and goodness they received on this earth came through her maternal hands. And they are forever grateful, and praising the Immaculate Conception.
How did they get there? Our Lord said, "I am the way." Jesus Christ is the way. That's how they got there. Redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb. They were washed white, this reading from the Book of Revelation refers specifically to baptism, they were washed white in the Blood of the Lamb. Their sins were forgiven they were made sons and daughters of God. So Christ is the way the truth and the life. That's how they got there, by the grace won by Jesus Christ the Redeemer, and Our Lady co-redemptrix, and they were faithful to the end of course.
If we get down into details and specifics there were various ways, when we talk about particulars, but there is one way that applies to all and that is the Blood of the Lamb.
This is a great day, a great celebration, because we as members of Christ's body are incorporated in to his mystical body the church. We are intimately united with those souls who are now beholding God face to face. They are our brothers and sisters. They're waiting for us; they're cheering us on. They're praying for us and they care very much for us, and they think of us more than we think of them.
This is a day of great rejoicing, consolation, anticipation, and hope. This is our hope. This is our cause for perseverance, and consolation, and struggles; that we have this hope of arriving. And we will arrive. Saint Maximilian Kolbe said sooner than we think. Before we know it, we will all be there. Time is passing by very quickly. In the name of the Father and in the Son and in the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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