November 1, 2026
Solemnity of All Saints
Gospel: Mt 5:1–12a

The Church celebrates the Solemnity of All Saints today. The passage from the Gospel of Saint Matthew presents Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, addressed to His disciples and the crowds who followed Him. Let’s try to understand.

We know that the mountain is the dwelling place of God, where God meets with man. In the Old Testament, God spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai (cf. Ex 19:16–25), and revealed Himself to Elijah in the cave (cf. 1 Kg 19:9–14). Today, Jesus is on the mountain, and His disciples are with Him on the mountain. He proclaims His teaching on the mountain He has chosen, to His disciples and to all who sincerely follow Him, so that their thoughts, words, and deeds may conform to the Kingdom of God of which He speaks.

What sort of person ought we to be? We must be poor in spirit, mournful, and meek, so that we may be distinct from those who belong to this world. For those who belong to this world constantly covet all its riches, seldom weep for their sins to beg God’s mercy and forgiveness, and are often proud and arrogant, pursuing their own version of justice. Yet Jesus calls us to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to empty ourselves, so that the Paraclete, who has compassion on the world, may transform our hearts of stone and make us merciful. For only then will our hearts be cleansed, and we shall see God and the Kingdom He brings to this world — a Kingdom composed of a God who loves man and men who are loved by God — and thus overcome the hatred between us, building peace according to the teaching of the Holy Spirit.

At the end of today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us: “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven; so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (cf. Mt 5:11–12). Perhaps when we read this passage we feel taken aback, because in our eyes, being a child of God means we should reign in this world, be kings in this world, and never again be reviled, persecuted, or have all kinds of evil uttered against us. Yet Jesus reminds us: as Christians, we must be prepared to suffer persecution and all kinds of slander, and even to rejoice in it. For today, the Saints and Apostles who share communion with us in God’s love have also endured these things. Whenever we experience all this, we have already had a foretaste of the joy of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Almighty ever-living God,
by whose gift we venerate in one celebration
the merits of all the Saints,
bestow on us, we pray,
through the prayers of so many intercessors,
an abundance of the reconciliation with you
for which we earnestly long.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.

©Totus Tuus 2026
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica