Homily – All Saints – Year C – Fr Jeremiah Browne (National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies #SouthAfrica #Botswana #eswatini #Swaziland)
Today we celebrate the Feast of All Saints – that huge number that no one can count, from every nation, race, and language, standing before the throne of God, clothed in white robes, singing, “Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9–10). It is a day that tells us holiness is not reserved for a few, but rather is the destiny for which we were all created.
But what is a saint? Too often we imagine saints as distant, perfect figures – men and women without flaws, their lives graceful and untouchable. Yet, when we look closely, the saints are in fact very human. They knew fear, doubt, temptation, anger, and loneliness.
They struggled to love, to forgive, to persevere. But, somehow, through it all, they allowed God’s grace to change them, to soften what was hard, to heal what was wounded, to become the people God desired them to be.
Could it be that to be a saint is not to be perfect, but to become fully human? To become the person God created us to be!
When Jesus begins the Sermon on the Mount – the Beatitudes we hear in today’s Gospel (Matthew 5:1–12) – He paints a picture not of perfection, but of the fully human heart. “Blessed are the poor in spirit… Blessed are those who mourn… Blessed are the peacemakers…”
These are not qualities of the flawless. They are the moments when the struggles of life strip away our defences and opens our hearts to a deep truth – when, in our poverty, grief, and longing for peace, we discover God’s presence not above us, but within the very fabric of our humanity.
The poor in spirit know their need for God. Those who mourn have learned to weep with others. The meek resist the urge to dominate. The merciful forgive what others deem unforgivable. In this sense, the beatitudes are not a checklist for holiness, but they are also experiences that shape and teach us what it means to be truly human.
To become a saint, then, is to allow God to shape us – to take our fragile humanity and fill it with divine life. That’s why St. Irenaeus could say, “The glory of God is the human person fully alive.”
Think of Peter – impulsive, hot-tempered, quick to speak, and quicker to fall. Yet, through friendship with Jesus, he learns humility, courage, and love. Or think of St Augustine – restless and searching, transformed by God’s patient grace into a teacher and guide for countless others.
Or Dorothy Day – once caught between doubt, rebellion, and a restless heart, she allowed God’s love to shape her life, dedicating herself to the poor and oppressed, showing that holiness is lived in action, mercy, and perseverance.
None of them began as saints. They became saints by learning to love – by letting Christ reshape their humanity from the inside out.
Saints are the people who remind us that holiness and humanity are not opposites. In fact, holiness is our humanity reaching its potential having been transformed by God’s love.
This feast also reminds us that the saints are not just in heaven – they are among us. Think of the quiet saintliness that shows in the lives of ordinary people: the mother who keeps loving through her exhaustion; the young person who chooses kindness over popularity; the nurse who tends the dying with care; the teacher who believes in a child no one else see potential in. These are the small acts of holiness that sustain the world.
To be holy, in the end, is not about doing spectacular things. It’s about allowing God to love through us, wherever we are.
The Book of Revelation gives us that glorious vision of the saints in heaven – but it also tells us who they are: “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14). In other words, they are the ones who have been through life’s struggles and have allowed those struggles to shape them. They are people who clung to faith when it would have been easier to let go.
Holiness, then, is not about escaping life – it is about living it deeply. It is not about having no wounds – it is about letting Christ touch and heal our wounds.
So, on this Feast of All Saints, we are invited to see that our own journey – with its struggles, failures, and small victories – is in fact our path to holiness, to sainthood.
May we open our hearts to God’s transforming love, trusting that, in time, we too can become fully human, fully alive, and that maybe, in God’s good time, others will look at our lives and say: There goes one of God’s saints – imperfect, yes, but real, alive – someone who know what it to struggle, someone who knows what it is to persevere, someone who knows what it is to be loved and someone who chooses to share love with the world.
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Please consider praying a decade of the rosary on a daily basis for the evangelising Mission of the Church and the Pope’s intentions.
The pope’s prayer intention for November is:
‘For the prevention of suicide”
Let us pray that those who are struggling with suicidal thoughts might find the support, care, and love they need in their community, and be open to the beauty of life.
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Blessed Pauline Jaricot, Pray for us. 🙏🏼🙏🏼
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