Introduction
The Church celebrates the Solemnity of All Saints to honor the countless men and women who now share in the glory of heaven. In Catholic teaching, a saint is anyone who has reached eternal life with God, whether officially canonized by the Church or known only to Him.
This feast reminds us that holiness is not reserved for a select few but is the universal call of every baptized Christian.
1st Reading – Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14
I, John, saw another angel come up from the East,
holding the seal of the living God.
He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels
who were given power to damage the land and the sea,
“Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees
until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal,
one hundred and forty-four thousand marked
from every tribe of the children of Israel.
After this I had a vision of a great multitude,
which no one could count,
from every nation, race, people, and tongue.
They stood before the throne and before the Lamb,
wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
They cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne,
and from the Lamb.”
All the angels stood around the throne
and around the elders and the four living creatures.
They prostrated themselves before the throne,
worshiped God, and exclaimed:
“Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving,
honor, power, and might
be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me,
“Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?”
I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.”
He said to me,
“These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress;
they have washed their robes
and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.”
The Book of Revelation, the final book of the Bible, is famous for its vivid and symbolic imagery, much of it drawn from the Old Testament. It belongs to the genre of apocalyptic literature, a style popular among Jews and Christians from about 200 BC to 200 AD. Because this genre is no longer written today, its symbolism can feel unfamiliar to modern readers
Other examples of apocalyptic literature in the Bible include parts of Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zechariah in the Old Testament, as well as sections of the Gospels, such as the “Little Apocalypse” in Mark 13.
Revelation was written by Saint John the Apostle around 95 AD while in exile on the island of Patmos, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian. Addressed to seven churches in Asia Minor, it offers a prophetic vision of God’s ultimate victory amid persecution.
In today’s reading, John describes two visions of vast assemblies of the righteous — the saints gathered before the Lord.
I, John, saw another angel come up from the East, holding the seal of the living God.
The verse immediately preceding this passage tells us there are destructive winds at the earth’s four corners, which are being held back by angels: “I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth so that no wind could blow on land or sea or against any tree.”
First-century Jewish thought, like much of the ancient world, pictured the earth as a flat expanse set upon the waters, with ‘four corners’ symbolizing the whole world rather than a literal square.
From the East — the location of the rising sun and symbolic of messianic hope — comes an angel with “the seal of the living God.”
The seal was probably a signet ring, used to mark official documents or important possessions. Whatever was marked by the impression of one’s signet ring belonged to that person and was under their protection.
He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea,
The four angels have been given destructive power in the form of releasing the terrible winds.
“Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
Like Ezekiel 9:4-6, where a mark on the forehead spared the faithful in Jerusalem, here God’s servants are sealed for preservation.
I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand marked from every tribe of the children of Israel.
John doesn’t see the ritual of sealing in his vision, but hears the number of the sealed: 144,000.
This symbolic figure (12 × 12 × 1000) signifies fullness and perfection — the people of God in their entirety, Israel as it was meant to be, fulfilled in the Church.
In Hebrew numerology, twelve is a perfect number and stands for completeness or fullness. The second twelve represents the original tribes of Israel (and, some say, the twelve apostles). One thousand is a very large number; multiplying by one thousand implies that the number is impossible to count.
After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb,
The second vision begins, set in the divine throne room in heaven, where an innumerable multitude stands before the throne and the Lamb.
Note the universality of this second multitude: every nation, race, people, and tongue. This is probably an allusion to the countless descendants promised to Abraham (Genesis 15:5; Hebrews 11:12), and certainly an acknowledgment that Christ came to save the entire world.
wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
The wearing of white symbolizes purity — a life cleansed from sin — along with holiness and victory (see Revelation 3:5).
Conquerors used to hold palms as a symbol of their triumph. The faithful servants of God are represented as victors, having fought the good fight of faith and finished their course.
The word phoínikes, translated as “palm,” occurs only two times in the New Testament: here, and in the story of Palm Sunday in the Gospel of John (12:13).
They cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.”
The multitude acknowledges that victory was not won by their own merits, but comes as a blessing from God through the agency of the Lamb.
All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders
This hearkens back to Revelation 4:4, which describes twenty-four elders wearing white garments and gold crowns. Later, Revelation 21:12-14 describes them as being the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles of Christ.
and the four living creatures.
Revelation 4:7 depicts these four living creatures as resembling a lion, a calf, a human, and an eagle. They symbolize, respectively, what is noblest, strongest, wisest, and swiftest in all of creation.
They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: “Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever.
The angels, elders, and four living creatures represent all of creation. They pay homage to God and to the Lamb with a traditional song of praise, many of which are found throughout Revelation. In fact, Revelation has more hymns than the rest of the New Testament combined.
Amen.”
Their exclamation of praise begins and ends with “Amen,” which means “So be it!” or “It is true!”
Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?”
The elder asks a question, not for his own information, but to prompt John to consider the question for his own instruction. Jesus taught in a similar way when he asked the apostles in Mark 8:28-29, “Who do people say that I am?”
I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.”
John tacitly acknowledges his own ignorance; he knows that even the lowest saint in heaven knows more than any apostle in the world.
He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress;
Ancient Israel’s tradition held that a great eschatological tribulation (thlípsis) will precede the dawning age of fulfillment.
Revelation was written as resistance literature in response to the ruthless persecution of the early church by the Roman authorities. This oppression was most likely seen in the context of thlípsis.
they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.”
This statement brings together some of Revelation’s richest theological imagery. Robes symbolize the believer’s life and identity. To be “washed” points to purification, an image that evokes baptism, through which Christians are cleansed from sin and sealed as God’s own.
The tradition of clothing the newly baptized in a white garment continues this symbolism today, signifying the new life and purity received in Christ.
Paradoxically, it is blood that makes the robes white. The “Blood of the Lamb” refers to Jesus’ self-offering on the Cross, the true Paschal Lamb whose death brings redemption. By sharing in his death and resurrection — through baptism, faith, and perseverance in trial — the faithful are not only forgiven but made victorious, clothed in purity and glory.
In Catholic teaching, this is the communion of saints: those already triumphant in heaven, interceding for the Church on earth.
Despite its being written to address a specific crisis, Revelation remains valid and meaningful for Christians of all time. Two central truths shine through this passage:
- The faithful departed are not dead or defeated but alive in Christ, already praising God in glory.
- The living are called to persevere in fidelity, even through suffering, trusting Christ’s promise: “Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
2nd Reading – 1 John 3:1-3
Beloved:
See what love the Father has bestowed on us
that we may be called the children of God.
Yet so we are.
The reason the world does not know us
is that it did not know him.
Beloved, we are God’s children now;
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.
Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure,
as he is pure.
In today’s second reading, Saint John marvels at the astonishing love of God that makes us his children and reminds us that our true identity will be fully revealed when we see God face to face.
On the Solemnity of All Saints, these words invite us to rejoice in the destiny we share with the saints — the promise of becoming like God in eternal glory.
Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.
The first of two themes in this reading is the love God has for believers. The specific kind of love referenced here (agápē in Greek) is transformative; it transforms believers into children of God.
“The grace of our Creator is so great that He has allowed us both to know Him and to love Him, and moreover, to love Him as children love a wonderful father. It would be no small thing if we were able to love God in the way that a servant loves his master or a worker his employer. But loving God as father is much greater still.” [Saint Bede the Venerable (died 735 AD), On 1 John]
Yet so we are.
John pauses, seemingly in awe.
It is amazing to realize that we are God’s children, “yet so we are.”
The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
As children of God, we are a new reality, re-created as God’s children. Thus, we are not accepted by the world, the old reality. The world, which is subject to sin, recognizes only its own. It did not recognize the Son of God, and it does not recognize these new children of God.
The implication: believers should expect the same kind of rejection, and possibly persecution, that Christ endured.
Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed.
The second theme of the reading is introduced: our future glorification.
Using the “now but not yet” formula of Christian eschatology, the author explains that believers have been reborn as children of God (“now”), but the transformation isn’t complete (“not yet”).
Not only is the transformation incomplete, it is beyond our comprehension to understand what this truth means for our future.
We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
This sentence is constructed in Greek with a verb that has no subject. As such, it is unclear what is being revealed: the transformation from the previous verse or Christ himself.
Regardless, the meaning is the same: in the Beatific Vision, we shall be made like God because we will see him directly, as he truly is. As Catholic theology teaches, this vision will perfect our likeness to Christ and fulfill our deepest longing for union with God.
Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure.
Seeing and understanding God is what every Christian strives for; however, this vision is a hope, not a certainty.
This hope of seeing God compels believers to live in holiness, imitating Christ’s purity here and now.
“Note that John uses the present tense when he talks about our need to purify ourselves. The practice of virtue is an ongoing thing and has its own inner dynamic. If we stop living this way or put it off until some future time, there is nothing virtuous about that at all.” [Theophylact (died 1108 AD), Commentary on 1 John]
As we celebrate the feast of All Saints, we honor all who have lived this hope to its fulfillment — the saints who now see God “as he is.” Their holiness began with the same divine adoption we share.
As we contemplate their glory, we renew our own hope to become what we already are in Christ: beloved children of God, destined to share in his eternal likeness.
Gospel – Matthew 5:1-12a
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,
and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.
He began to teach them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven.”
The Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount offer the portrait of holiness that lies at the heart of today’s celebration.
In these verses, Jesus reveals the values of the Kingdom of Heaven: poverty of spirit, mercy, purity of heart, and the courage to endure persecution for the sake of righteousness. The Church proclaims this passage on All Saints because it describes not only the saints we venerate in heaven, but also the path to sanctity to which every Christian is called.
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. He began to teach them,
This mountaintop setting gives this discourse its traditional name: the Sermon on the Mount.
Jesus is addressing both his disciples and the surrounding crowd (cf. Matthew 7:28), teaching the values of the Kingdom of Heaven.
saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The word makários (“blessed”) conveys a state of deep spiritual joy, peace, and divine favor. A beatitude (also known as a macarism) is a form of wisdom teaching that links an interior disposition or virtuous behavior with the blessedness that flows from it.
To be “poor in spirit” is to recognize one’s total dependence on God — a humility that trusts in his mercy rather than one’s own merits. This interior poverty reflects the religious attitude of neediness and of humility towards God, with awareness that all is a gift from God.
Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Those who mourn are not only to those who suffer loss or affliction, but especially to those who grieve over sin — their own and the world’s. Such mourning, borne in love and atonement, opens the heart to divine consolation.
The Spirit of God brings peace both in this life and in the ultimate joy of heaven.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
The meek are those who bear wrongs patiently, who are humble, gentle, and steadfast in adversity. True meekness is strength under control — the peace that flows from humility.
“The land” points to the eternal inheritance of the saints: the heavenly homeland promised to God’s faithful ones.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
Biblical righteousness means holiness — living according to God’s will. This beatitude calls us not to a mild wish for holiness but to an ardent desire for it, as essential as food and water.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Mercy reflects the very heart of God (cf. Exodus 34:6-7). To be merciful is to forgive, to be patient with others’ faults, and to love in spite of imperfection.
Those who seek mercy are required by God to extend it to others, as Jesus teaches elsewhere (cf. Matthew 18:21-35). In showing mercy, we open ourselves to receive it.
Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
In biblical thought, the heart is the center of a person — the source of thoughts, choices, and love. Purity of heart is not mere innocence but a whole-hearted orientation toward God, seeking what is true, good, and beautiful (cf. Philippians 4:8).
Helped by God’s grace, those who purify their hearts will one day behold him face to face.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Peace, in the biblical sense, is the fullness of right order and harmony with God. Sin disrupted this peace, but Christ restores it. Peacemakers cooperate in that work — reconciling with others and drawing them toward reconciliation with God. To be a peacemaker is to share in the mission of the Son, who makes us God’s children.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Following Christ inevitably brings opposition. Fidelity to him may demand courage and sacrifice, yet such suffering unites us to his cross and leads to eternal life in his Kingdom.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.
This final saying expands on the previous beatitude, offering encouragement in persecution. Jesus proclaims a paradox: those who appear defeated by the world are in truth victorious in God’s eyes.
The Beatitudes are profoundly paradoxical. In Jesus’ time, blessing was associated with wealth, honor, and success, while suffering was seen as a curse. Christ turns this view upside down, revealing that true blessedness belongs to the humble, the merciful, and the pure of heart — those who love as he loves.
The Beatitudes are not descriptions of different kinds of people but facets of one Christian calling. Every disciple is invited to embody them all. They challenge every person — rich or poor, powerful or forgotten — to live the Gospel with integrity.
We have a term for those who succeed in doing this: saints.
Connections and Themes
The universal call to holiness. The Solemnity of All Saints reminds us that holiness is not a rare privilege but a universal calling. In the first reading from Revelation, John sees “a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue,” standing before the throne of God. This vision captures the breathtaking inclusivity of heaven — a communion of ordinary men and women who, by God’s grace, have been made extraordinary.
Saint John’s letter deepens this vision, reminding us that holiness begins not with our efforts but with our identity: “See what love the Father has bestowed on us, that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are.” To be holy is first to belong — to recognize ourselves as beloved sons and daughters of God, already marked by his likeness.
The Gospel then shows us the path this identity takes in action. The Beatitudes are not a list of virtues for the spiritual elite but a portrait of the Christian vocation itself. To be poor in spirit, merciful, pure of heart, and hungry for righteousness is to walk the road of every saint. All Saints Day, then, is not a commemoration of distant heroes; it is a celebration of our own destiny — the life of divine love to which we are all called.
The paradox of true blessedness. Today’s readings also unveil a profound paradox: that true blessedness often hides beneath the appearance of suffering. In the world’s eyes, the poor, the mourning, and the persecuted seem anything but blessed. Yet Christ proclaims them happy — not because of their hardship, but because God’s kingdom belongs to them.
The Book of Revelation portrays this mystery in vivid imagery: those who have “come out of the great tribulation” now stand clothed in white before the Lamb. Their garments are washed in his blood — a striking image of how suffering, united with Christ, is transformed into glory. What looked like defeat becomes triumph.
Saint John, too, insists that our present state does not reveal the full reality: “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed.” Holiness is hidden, even ordinary, in this life. The saints once walked among us as flawed, fragile people, but they trusted the unseen promise.
Sunday Readings 