Today, November 1, is the Solemnity of All Saints; a day when we honour all saints, known and unknown. In his General Audience in 2014, Pope Francis said: “… all Christians, insofar as they have been baptised, are equal in dignity before the Lord and share in the same vocation, that is, to sainthood (cf Lumen Gentium, nn. 39-42) … Sanctity is understood, then, not as a prerogative of the few: sanctity is a gift offered to all…
“In order to be saints, there is no need to be bishops, priests or religious: no, we are all called to be saints! … Some think that sanctity is to close your eyes and to look like a holy icon. No! This is not sanctity! Sanctity is something greater, deeper, which God gives us. Indeed, it is precisely in living with love and offering one’s own Christian witness in everyday affairs that we are called to become saints. And each in the conditions and the state of life in which he or she finds him—or herself….
“Be a saint by becoming a visible sign of God’s love and of his presence alongside us. This is it: every state of life leads to holiness, always! In your home, on the street, at work, at church, in that moment and in your state of life, the path to sainthood has been opened. Don’t be discouraged to pursue this path. It is God alone who gives us the grace.
The Lord asks only this: that we be in communion with Him and at the service of our brothers and sisters … there are many little steps to sanctity. Every step towards sainthood makes us better people, free from selfishness and being closed within ourselves, and opens us to our brothers and sisters and to their needs.”
“He asked us to examine our conscience; reflect on how we have responded to the Lord’s call to sanctity.
“Do I want to become a little better, a little more Christian? This is the path to holiness.”
The words of the saints when they lived on this earth should spur us on to become who we are. For example, St Teresa of Kolkata told us that to be holy, to be a saint, means allowing God “to live his life in us.” St Catherine of Siena urged us: “Be who you were created to be and you will set the world on fire.”
Remember though, “the path to sainthood is not taken alone, each one for oneself, but is travelled together” (Pope Francis).
No one is perfect. We are all sinners, but as St Paul reminds us, it is God’s grace that can save us. Prior to his conversion on the road to Damascus, Paul was known as Saul. He had persecuted Christians in Jerusalem for years. Even when some were fleeing from Jerusalem, Saul got a warrant from the high priest and was on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians who had fled there. Read about his conversion. Pope Francis said St Paul’s conversion “teaches us that it is never too late to let Jesus completely change and transform your life” and that the 8 Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) “are a clear roadmap to sainthood … So many brothers and sisters have lived lives shaped by the Beatitudes: poor, meek, merciful, hungry and thirsty for justice, peacemakers.”
There are also saints of our time, such as Carlo Acutis, an English-born Italian Catholic teenager, who died in 2006 at the age of 15 due to leukaemia. He was canonised as the first millennium saint on September 7, 2025. He was known “for his deep devotion to the Catholic faith and his adept use of technology to share religious content” (www.catholic.com). Catholic news outlets state that growing up, he gave his friends guidance and support, and he stood up to bullies who picked on classmates with disabilities. He once said: “I am happy to die because I lived my life without wasting even a minute of it on anything unpleasing to God … The only thing we have to ask God for, in prayer, is the desire to be holy.”
Paragraph 956 of the Catholic Catechism discusses the intercession of the saints, who intercede with the Father for us. Let us not squander God’s gift of holiness. Let’s reflect on our own lives and faith and continue to pray to the saints. And remember, tomorrow is All Souls’ Day, a day to commemorate all the faithful departed, not just saints.
