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On this Solemnity of All Saints, Saint John the Apostle shares with us his vision of the “great multitude” of saints gathered around the throne of God in heaven, saints from “every nation, race, people, and tongue,” worshipping God for all eternity. We are told who they are: “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.”
Catholics are obligated to attend Mass today because this scene, this vision of the saints in heaven presented to us today is our destiny! This is our goal! This is what you and I are made for: to spend all of eternity in God’s splendid presence, worshipping Him along with all of the angels and saints. This day reminds us of what we are made for. It reminds us of our true homeland. And we should be inspired and encouraged by the example of all the holy men and women who have gone before us, all those who struggled through their earthly pilgrimage and persevered in the faith to the end. If they did it, so can you, and so can I.
God has already given us everything that we need in order to live a life of holiness during our earthly pilgrimage. We have an abundance of grace offered to us in the sacraments, in the Scriptures, in prayer, in the community of the Church, and in the intercession of the saints. These are the very same things that all of the saints of the past have used to attain holiness. Are we using them? Are you and I going to confession often? Do we go to Mass and receive the Eucharist every Sunday and holy day of obligation? Do we spend time with the Scriptures and in prayer every day? Do we participate generously in the community of our parish? Do we know the saints, and do we pray to them for help? We cannot achieve our heavenly destiny on our own. Heaven is not guaranteed to anyone. As Jesus tells us in the Gospel of Matthew: “How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few.”
The beatitudes which Jesus teaches to us in the Gospel today are the qualities or characteristics of the saints. The beatitudes are the evidence that Jesus lives inside of us. And what will help us to grow the beatitudes in ourselves are all these gifts God has given us in the Church: the sacraments, the Scriptures, prayer, generous service, and the help of the saints. United with Jesus and with one another in all of these ways, you and I can be poor in spirit, meek and gentle in the midst of a cruel and mean-spirited world, hungering and thirsting for righteousness, being merciful in a world that is stingy with mercy, making peace where all are ready for war, being persecuted with every kind of evil uttered against us for being followers of Jesus.
But we cannot do this on our own. Here, at this altar, we join the great multitude of all the saints, and we are part of the new history of humanity made possible by the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. All of heaven, all the saints, are present to us here and now, as together we worship the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, upon the throne of the Cross, the throne of the altar, the throne of heaven. The saints give us, in our frailty, both strength and good example. While we are still on this earth, let us never cease imploring the Lord for His grace, so that coming to perfect holiness in the fullness of His love, we may pass from this pilgrim table to the banquet of our heavenly homeland.
Total Surrender 
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