Homily For Friday Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time Year B, 1st November, 2024. Solemnity of All Saints

 

Readings: Rev. 7:2-4.9-14, Ps.24, 1John 3:1-3, Matt. 5:1-12

Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.

WHO ARE THE SAINTS AND WHY MUST WE CELEBRATE THEM? 

Today, the Church celebrates two special events; the first one is the gift of another new month, of which I say happy new month to you all. The second, which is the most important, is the solemnity of All Saints. The Church, as we know, is not just the physical structure we have all over the place; no, the Church is much more than that. The Church is the body of Christ, and every one of us is a member by virtue of our baptism.

This Church is divided into three groups, that is the militant Church, the suffering Church and the triumphant Church. The militant Church are all of us, especially the baptized, who are still inhabiting and struggling with the human flesh. But immediately after death, we belong either to the suffering Church or the triumphant Church.

The suffering Church is the souls that belong to the body of Christ but are still in need of purification. While the triumphant Church are the souls that have been purified by the blood of the Lamb and are united with Christ. They are the saints that we are celebrating today.

Thus, every first November, the Church presents to us the solemnity of All Saints. A day we celebrate the triumphant Church that is all the saints known or unknown to us who have triumphed victorious to heavenly glory, which, of course, reminds us that we are called to grow in holiness and to become saints, for that is our primary goal in life.

This solemnity dates back to the 7th century, and the occasion of its introduction was the conversion of the ancient Roman Pantheon into a Christian Church. Emperor, Phocas gave the Pantheon to Pope Boniface IV, who converted it into a Church and dedicated it to the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the saints about the year 608. But later in the year 731, Pope Gregory III consecrated a chapel in St. Peter’s Church in honour of all the saints, and since then, the solemnity of All Saints has been celebrated all over the world.

Therefore, in this great event, we are called to imitate the heroic virtues of the saints by living a life of beatitudes as peacemakers, pure of heart, meek, humble and merciful, as Jesus teaches us in our Gospel passage today. In our first reading, St. John in the Book of Revelation tells that these saints are the people who have been through great persecution, and they have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb.

Also, in our second reading, he made us know that we are already the children of God, but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; but when it is revealed, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is. And everyone who entertains this hope must purify himself and try to be as pure as Christ.

Dear friends, why must we celebrate the saints? We celebrate the saints because they remind us of our universal vocation to holiness. Through their intercessions, they strengthen us in our struggles towards our goal, which is to attain eternal life. They help us to recall our communion with God along with the triumphant church and our duty to pray for the suffering Church. The saints remind us that we are pilgrims on this earth.

Therefore, this solemnity strengthens our faith in the teachings of the Church. No doubt all of us want to become saints, and oftentimes, we really want to live a holy life, but there are always obstacles on our way to holiness; these obstacles make us so aware of our sins, our weaknesses and our failures.

Yes, we are sinners, but so are the saints. They only relied on God’s mercy and grace and so we too. We cannot become holy through our efforts alone we need to cooperate with the grace of God. Remember, anything worth having is worth making sacrifices for, and the more it’s worth, the more significant sacrifices we should be willing to make for it. If holiness is necessary for one to attain heaven. Then it is worth all the sacrifices Jesus mentioned in the beatitudes.

LET US PRAY: Lord God, as a militant Church on earth, there are a lot of troubles and challenges we are struggling with; help us through the intercession of all the saints to overcome them and so make it triumphantly to your heavenly kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. Happy new month and a blessed All Saints celebration.