Solemnity of All Saints
Matthew 5:1-12a
This hope does not disappoint.” (Rom 5:5)

Today we celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints, and the Gospel takes us to the very heart of Christian life: the Beatitudes. Standing on the mountain, Jesus “opened his mouth and taught them.” After the long stretch of teachings, both Matthew and Luke would present Jesus choosing his Apostles. Therefore, some biblical scholars refer to the Sermon on the Mount as a kind of “ordination address” to his disciples and, through them, to us. What we hear in the Beatitudes is the essence of discipleship, the path to sanctity.

Today, we are invited to lift our gaze beyond ourselves and to contemplate the great multitude of men and women who, clothed in white, now stand before the throne of God. The Book of Revelation tells us: “a great multitude which no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues” (Rev 7:9). These are the saints—many canonised, but many more unknown, hidden, and forgotten. They are ordinary people, like us, who lived through tribulation, carried their crosses, and persevered in hope.

Three images from today’s readings are worth reflecting:
The first is devastation. The angel’s warning not to harm the earth (Rev 7:3) reminds us painfully how capable humanity is, of destroying God’s creation. Wars, violence, greed, and the “culture of waste” devour not only the environment but also human lives, values, and hope. We discard the unborn, the elderly, the poor, and the unemployed. This is the madness of destruction—a world where man pretends to be God.

The second image is the victims. The poor who are forced to flee their homes, families torn apart by conflict, the hungry, the persecuted. These are the saints of daily survival, often unnoticed by the world. As Revelation says, “These are they who have come out of great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev 7:14). They remind us that holiness is not about perfection, but about endurance, faith, and hope in the midst of suffering.

The third image is God Himself. Saint John tells us: “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed” (1 Jn 3:2). This is our hope: that one day we shall see Him as He is, face to face. Hope is the heartbeat of the saints. It is what sustained them in tribulation and what can sustain us too.

And Jesus shows us the path: the Beatitudes. Blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers. This is not a path of comfort, but of courage. It may bring persecution, but it is the only way that leads us to God.

Today, let us give thanks for the saints—the famous and the forgotten, the martyrs and the mothers, the prophets and the simple souls who lived the Beatitudes with quiet fidelity. Let us ask for the courage to follow their path of hope, so that one day we too may be counted among that great multitude standing before the Lamb, where hope will be fulfilled in eternal joy.

© Claretian Publications, Hong Kong, China
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica 2025