November 1, 2026, 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Week 31 in Ordinary Time - All Saints' Day (In 2026, this falls on a Sunday)
Message from the Word
Today we celebrate All Saints.
This feast day is not simply a day to remember "great saints of the past." Rather, it is a day to remember what we ourselves are being called to.
Today's scripture teaches us three important things about holiness.
The Gospel shows us what it means to live a life of holiness.
The first reading reveals who will become holy.
The second reading then explains why we are called to holiness.
To give you the answer upfront, it is because we have been given as holy children of God.
Holiness is not reserved for a select few. It is open to all who are invited to communion with God. This is why the Second Vatican Council called it a "universal calling to holiness in the Church." To borrow the words of St. Francis of Sales, "holiness is not in illusion, but in love."
Today's Gospel reading is the Eight Beatitudes.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit." "Blessed are those who mourn." "Blessed are the meek." "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." "Blessed are the merciful." "Blessed are the pure in heart." "Blessed are the peacemakers." "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake."
This passage is placed at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. It is, so to speak, the words that set the direction for the entirety of Jesus' teachings. That is why the Beatitudes have often been called the Christian "Magna Carta," or the Great Charter.
Just as a constitution serves as the guiding standard for all laws and institutions in a nation, the Beatitudes are the fundamental measure that shows what we, as Christians, should value and live by.
However, upon closer examination, the Eight Truths of Beloved is a very strange phrase.
Why are the poor blessed? Why are those who grieve blessed? Why are the persecuted blessed? From a common-sense perspective, it's the exact opposite.
No one wants poverty, sorrow, or persecution.
So, is Jesus blessing human suffering itself? Of course not. Jesus is not saying that poverty itself or suffering itself is good. If he were, it would mean that we should just leave suffering people alone.
The meaning of the Eight Truths of Beloved is not found there.
The important thing is that no matter what circumstances you find yourself in, if you live your life facing God, you will never lose true happiness.
We tend to seek happiness in external conditions. We think that good health brings happiness. We think that money brings happiness. We think that success at work brings happiness. We think that being appreciated by others brings happiness. Of course, these things are important.
However, that alone is not enough to make a person happy. Even if everything is in place on the outside, if your heart is filled with jealousy, fear, anger, and anxiety, you can never be happy.
Conversely, those who, despite facing difficulties in life, trust in God, love others, and never lose hope, possess a profound peace that cannot be explained by external circumstances alone.
The Eight Beatitudes call upon us to change our very understanding of happiness before we can change our actions. And most importantly, Jesus himself lived these Eight Beatitudes. Jesus did not demand that people live something that he himself did not.
He is poor in spirit, gentle, full of mercy, and a peacemaker.
And he was persecuted for the sake of righteousness. In Jesus, his words, his actions, and his very existence are in harmony. Therefore, the Beatitudes are not merely a list of moral principles.
The Beatitudes are the very image of Christ himself.
Saints are those who gradually reflected the image of Christ in their own lives.
So, are there only a very few such saints?
The first reading, from the Book of Revelation, presents a completely different picture. First, the number 144,000 appears. This is not a number limiting the number of people who will enter heaven. It represents the "twelve" of the twelve tribes, the "twelve" of the twelve apostles, and the "thousand" representing divine magnitude. Multiplying these numbers together, it symbolizes the size and perfection of God's people.
And then, after that, "a crowd so large that no one can count them all" appears.
They are people of all nationalities, ethnicities, and languages. They stand because they are alive.
They are dressed in white robes, for they are sharing in Christ's resurrection and new life. They hold palm branches in their hands, a sign of victory over evil. The message of this scene is clear.
Holiness is not the privilege of a select few. Countless people are called by God. But at the same time, it is said of them: “These are the ones who have come through great tribulation.”
In other words, saints were not people who were free from suffering. They suffered illness. They experienced failure. They faced persecution. They were misunderstood by others. They even experienced death.
But in all of these things, they remained unseparated from God and from Christ the Lamb.
Therefore, their lives were not rendered meaningless by suffering or death.
It was received by God and transformed. Herein lies great hope for us.
There is suffering in our lives that cannot be explained.
Sometimes we don't understand why things happen. But faith doesn't offer a simple explanation for all suffering. What faith tells us is that suffering and death are not the last words. God is the one who has the last words.
And in the second reading, John explains the basis of that hope:
"How great is the love our Father has given us, that we may be called children of God—and we are, indeed, so." We do not become children of God because we have become noble.
You are already considered a child of God. First and foremost, there is God's love. God loved us, called us, and made us His children. From there, the journey to holiness begins. Therefore, holiness is not about becoming a perfect human being through one's own efforts alone.
It is about responding to the love God has given us. And John says, "Whoever has this hope in the Son will purify himself." Herein lies our responsibility.
The status of being a child of God is a gift given as a blessing.
However, it is up to us to live out those blessings in our daily lives.
What's needed for that is a change of heart. When you hear the word "change of heart," you might imagine a very big decision. But in reality, it's often a series of small changes.
I am a little more forgiving than yesterday. I am a little less stubborn about my own ideas. I am a little more aware of the pain of others. I am a little more willing to spend my time with others. I am a little more willing to hear God's voice in prayer.
Through these small changes, we gradually become more like children of God.
Therefore, today's All Saints' Day is not a day to overwhelm us.
It's not a day to feel down and think, "The saints were so great, but I'm completely useless."
On the contrary, it's a day of hope.
Even that countless crowd wasn't perfect from the start.
These are people who, having received God's grace, rose again despite setbacks and continued to walk the path of the Beatitudes.
And that path is open to us as well.
A saint is not a different kind of person. They are someone who received God's love and gradually manifested that love in their own life.
Today, let us choose mercy. Let us choose gentleness. Let us choose peace. Let us choose trust in God. In these small choices, holiness begins. With the intercession of the saints, let us pray that, as children of God, we too may gradually become reflections of Christ.
First Reading: Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14
Second Reading: 1 John 3:1-3
Gospel reading: Matthew 5:1-12a
Sermon plan
Today we celebrate All Saints.
When we think of saints, we immediately picture very special people, those with extraordinary virtues, or those canonized by the Church. However, today's scripture shows that holiness is not a special path reserved for a select few.
The Second Vatican Council is an invitation for all Christians to become holy.
So why are we called to become holy?
In the second reading, John states very clearly, "How great is the love the Father has given us, that we may be called children of God!" Herein lies the starting point of holiness. We do not become children of God through our own efforts and achievements. First, God loved us and made us His children. Holiness is living out that given status. In other words, because God is holy, we, His children, are invited to gradually reflect His image.
Holiness is not about seeing rare visions or possessing special abilities. To borrow the words of St. Francis of Sales, "Honor is not in visions, but in love."
Today's Beatitudes in the Gospel illustrate the concrete form of that love.
The Beatitudes are placed at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. Therefore, this is not merely a part of Jesus' teachings. It is, so to speak, a "Great Constitution" for living as a Christian, a set of fundamental principles that show who we are and in which direction we should walk.
Matthew describes this scene in great solemnity. Jesus, like Moses, ascends to the mountain to teach. But what they hear is not merely commandments or knowledge; it is teaching that they must live out after hearing it.
However, the "blessed" that Jesus speaks of is very strange from our ordinary perspective. "Blessed are the poor in spirit." "Blessed are those who mourn." "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness." Normally, we would like to avoid poverty, mourning, and persecution if possible.
So, is Jesus saying that poverty and suffering itself are good? Of course not. Suffering itself is not a blessing. Being poor itself is not pleasing to God.
At the heart of the Beatitudes lies not in the circumstances of one's life, but in where one directs their heart and lives within those circumstances. Jesus teaches that human happiness is not determined solely by external conditions. Even with wealth, one cannot be happy if bound by anxiety, jealousy, or desire. Conversely, even in the midst of hardship, those who trust in God, love others, and never lose hope possess a profound happiness that no one can take away.
Therefore, the Eight Beatitudes call upon us to change not only our lives, but also our very way of thinking. And most importantly, Jesus himself lived out these Eight Beatitudes.
Jesus' words and his life were perfectly consistent. He was poor in spirit, spiritually hungry and thirsty, and relied on the Father's mercy. And Jesus himself was truly meek. He was full of mercy. He was a peacemaker. He was persecuted for the sake of righteousness.
In other words, the Beatitudes are not merely moral rules, but rather a verbal representation of Christ himself.
Therefore, a saint is ultimately someone who, through the Eight Beatitudes, became more like Christ.
So, are there only a very few such saints?
The first reading, from the Book of Revelation, presents a completely opposite scene. It mentions the number 144,000. However, this is not the upper limit of the number of people who can enter heaven, but a symbolic number signifying a vast number, representing the size and perfection of God's people. Following this, a "great crowd, beyond anyone's number," appears. People of all nations, ethnicities, and languages. They stand because they are alive. They wear white garments because they share in the life of Christ's resurrection. In fact, the white garments that Christians typically wear in liturgy symbolize this. They also hold palm branches, a sign of victory over evil. But there is one more important thing said about them: "These are the people who have come through great tribulation."
Saints were not people who were free from suffering. Life has its illnesses, its failures, its betrayals, its loneliness, and its sufferings that are beyond our control.
Even amidst that suffering, they did not stray from God, but continued to walk with Christ.
That is where holiness lies. God does not desire suffering itself. However, if we live in unity with God, suffering may not be seen as something meaningless and separate from life, but rather as something that can be re-embraced within love and hope.
Christ himself transformed the complete human defeat of the cross into salvation through love. Therefore, when we entrust our lives to God, failures and suffering cease to be our final words.
And returning to the second reading, John says, “We are now children of God, but it has not yet been revealed what we will be.” In other words, we are still on our way. We are already children of God, but we are not yet fully like him. What is needed is daily conversion, a walk toward the fullness of charity.
"Whoever has hope in the Son will purify themselves." This doesn't mean becoming perfect all at once. It means changing little by little. Becoming a little more forgiving today than yesterday, and a little more forgiving tomorrow than today. Becoming a little more sensitive to the pain of others. Becoming a little freer from self-centered thinking. Prioritizing God's will a little more. The accumulation of these small changes is the path to holiness.
Therefore, when we celebrate All Saints today, we are not gazing upon heroes from a distant world; they are those who walked the same path as us.
A saint is not a perfect person, but someone who continues to accept God's grace. They are someone who, despite failures, repeatedly retraced their steps on the path of the Beatitudes. And that calling has been given to us as well.
We are already children of God. Therefore, we not only have the potential to become holy, but we also have the potential to become holy.
As children of God, we are called to walk toward holiness.
Today, with the intercession of all saints, we pray that in our own lives, we too may gradually reflect the image of Christ.