Homily for the Feast of All Saints

Through out the liturgical year, we celebrate the feasts of many saints by name. Some of the feasts are major celebrations, such as the feasts of Our Lord. Others are not as important, but are greatly celebrated in various regions of the world, like Our Lady of Guadalupe. Still others aren't very important from a liturgical standpoint, but have been taken over by the secular culture, such as St. Patrick or St. Valentine.

Even with all the saints that we celebrate throughout the year, there are still many saints who don't have their own feast days, most of whom are unknown by the Church. We're told in the first reading, which shows us a vision of Heaven, that there is a great multitude of people standing before the Heavenly throne of God praising and worshiping him. All these saints, whether known or unknown, are able to intercede on our behalf.

While the saints are able to intercede for us, they also provide us the example we need to accomplish our goal of eternal life in Heaven. An important aspect of accomplishing any major goal is to find someone who has achieved that goal and emulate him or her. A kid who wants to play professional sports might look at how a professional player worked towards the pros. Likewise, our goal as Christians is to achieve eternal life in Heaven, so we look to the saints for the encouragement to follow them into Heaven. Through their examples of life and their love of God, the saints show us the path to eternal life.

Today, as we celebrate this feast of All Saints, may the great multitude of saints intercede for us so that we may join them in front of the Heavenly throne worshiping God our Father and Jesus Christ, his son. All holy men and women, pray for us!