The Solemnity of All Saints - 2026
Readings for
THE LITURGY OF THE WORD
First Reading: Revelation 7:2-4. 9-14
Psalm: Ps 23:1-6 "Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face."
Second Reading: 1 John 3:1-3
Gospel Acclamation: Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all you that labour and are burdened, and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
Gospel: Matthew 5:1- 12
Please listen to the audio recordings of the Mass (Readings, prayers and homily) for All Saints - First November by clicking this link here:
https://on.soundcloud.com/Af06TDKDNfHN5y1lbY
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* Prologue: The Feast of All Saints began in the East to commemorate all martyrs and was progressively adopted in the West. Celebrated on this day in the Eighth Century and soon widely observed throughout the world, we honour today all holy women and men in glory with Christ, known or unknown, mighty or lowly, whose lives were modelled on the beatitudes and the great commandment of love. {FHL}
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In many of St Paul’s letters to different communities, he addressed them as “the saints” in such and such places.
Here, the term “saints” referred to the living members of the Christian community—those reborn into eternal life with Christ through baptism, now living lives of discipleship by practically following his Gospel.
This powerfully reminds us that, for all who follow Christ, eternal life begins now. Eternal life is already present.
As the Gospels and the Scriptures say, the fullness of this eternal life will not be completely revealed or experienced until the next life, with God in heaven. However eternal life still begins now. The writings of both St Paul and St John strongly affirm this: the disciples of Jesus are already saints and witnesses, already bearing the sprouting seeds of eternal life in Christ, which abides within them— though it may not yet be fully revealed or realised. But that seed seed of eternal life is already flourishing and able to be seen here and now.
Today, when we think of saints, we usually mean those who have died and are now enjoying God's glory in heaven. And then we often think of the famous saints.
We would not normally think of calling ourselves saints on this side of heaven, because the word is often linked with those who have lived exemplary lives — those who have reflected the Gospel deeply— and with those whom the Church has officially declared to be in heaven, enjoying the eternal rest and reward of the Kingdom. Nevertheless, in the broader sense, we are all called to be saints and to live this reality here and now.
On the feast of All Saints, it can be tempting to focus only on the famous saints— such as St Peter, St Paul, St Therese, and so many others. While these saints are indeed important, and without doubt they are wonderful examples within the communion of saints, each has their own special feast day, sometimes more than one, to commemorate their heroic virtues. Although the great saints are certainly included in All Saints' Day, this feast is more importantly a celebration of the often “unsung” saints— those without an official feast day of their own, and also those who are not officially recognised by the Church.
Many people who are enjoying the vision of God in Heaven forever, may never be formally recognised by the Church, or officially proclaimed saints. Yet they are indeed in heaven, enjoying the reward and the communion of saints. These include family members, friends, colleagues, and former parishioners — people we have known — who have gone to their reward after living beautiful lives of quiet, unassuming virtue, love, service, and faithfulness to the values of the Gospel, and to Christ. They are people from our own experience, and we can be genuinely confident — though we may never know their names publicly — that they are already enjoying the full joys of a life of goodness and kindness.
This is their day.
They have found complete fulfilment in faithful living of the good news.
On the theme of sainthood now, I was reading a commentary in the magazine *Madonna*. It picked up on the second reading, where John says, “We are your children now”.
“I wonder why we’re always putting this in the future. We will be your children, we will be happy with you, we will be saints. We act as though the people we call saints spent their lives taking out insurance to make sure they made it and earned their reward.
“Weren’t they, rather, living all along as your children, in your presence, there and then as well as here and now — completely satisfied to have nothing but you, Oh Lord? They weren’t living some future hope. They were living in the here and now. Didn’t someone once say that a saint is someone who can live in the present — not looking back or forward, but fully living in the present moment?
“These holy women and men we admire so much knew how things really are between God and us, here and now. They knew what living the eternal life of the Gospel meant for this life, and for now—not just for later in the next life. God the Father sent his Son to show us how things are between us, right now.”
What depth of relationship is available right now? May we learn to grasp this today— and in its fullness in the future.
All Saints of God - pray for us
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References:
Fr. Paul W. Kelly
https://www.jesuitmedia.org.au/article/madonna
Image Credit: https://creator.nightcafe.studio/creation/OzQufYsohHPKMYOzeBLp?ru=Paul-Evangelion
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Archive of homilies and reflections: homilycatholic.blogspot.com.au
To contact Fr. Paul, please email: paulwkelly68@gmail.com
To listen to the homily audio podcast, please click this link here: soundcloud.com/user-633212303/tracks
Further information relating to the audio productions linked to this Blog:
"Faith, Hope and Love - Christian worship and reflection" - Led by Rev Paul Kelly
Prayers and chants — Roman Missal, 3rd edition, © 2010, The International Commission on English in the liturgy. (ICEL)
Scriptures - New Revised Standard Version: © 1989, and 2009 by the NCC-USA. (National Council of Churches of Christ - USA)
"The Psalms" ©1963, 2009, The Grail - Collins Publishers.
Prayers of the Faithful - " Together we pray" by Robert Borg. E.J. Dwyer, Publishers, (1993) . (Sydney, Australia).
Sung "Mass In Honour of St. Ralph Sherwin" - By Jeffrey M. Ostrowski. The Gloria, Copyright © 2011 ccwatershed.org.
- "Faith, Hope and Love" theme hymn - in memory of William John Kelly - Inspired by 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. Music by Paul W. Kelly. Arranged and sung by Stefan Kelk, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.
"Quiet Time." Instrumental Reflection music. Written by Paul W. Kelly. 1988, 2007. & This arrangement: Stefan Kelk, 2020.
- "Today I Arise" - For Trisha J Kelly. Original words and music by Paul W. Kelly. Inspired by St. Patrick's Prayer. Arranged and sung, with additional lyrics by Stefan Kelk. 2019.
[ Production - KER - 2026]
May God bless and keep you.
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