Becoming Fully Alive: All Saints Day . . .

        

The Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time 2026 

November 1, 2026

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Revelation7:2-14; Psalm 24; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12

 

 

This feast of All Saints Day is a celebration of what God can accomplish in human beings when they allow divine grace to transform their lives. When we think of the saints, we often think of people who accomplished remarkable things, who gave great sacrifice for others, or who possessed a holiness that seems far beyond our own reach. We admire them and often hold them on a high pedestal. Saints have never been perfect or otherworldly; they are witnesses to God's generosity. Their holiness reveals what happens when God's grace is welcomed and allowed to transform a human life.

 

The Beatitudes reveal the type of people God calls us to become. It is not a recitation of who the saints were; it is a map for future life and a promise for those whose lives have begun to embody the Beatitudes as a way of being. We were created for communion with God and with one another. It is God’s way of calling us to a higher state of being. Heaven is the fulfillment of that calling: the blessedness of sharing God's life, where the love that we struggle to practice now is brought to its perfection.

 

We are invited to become fully alive in the generosity of God. We are called to become more human. Obeying rules and fulfilling religious obligation is expected, but holiness reaches deeper than outward behavior because it necessarily involves the transformation of our hearts, the deepening of relationships, the pursuit of our desires, and renewing the way we see other people. Jesus, through the Beatitudes, reveals what humanity looks like when it is open to God’s love. Jesus allows his way of loving to reshape our own humanity. Therefore, we do as Jesus did – welcome the excluded, forgive sins, heal the wounded, confront injustice, and put the needs of others before one’s own. Holiness does not separate us from our humanity but fulfills it. Saints did not reject the world; they immersed themselves in the struggles of the day. 

 

Our holiness demands that we allow a diminished humanity to be transformed by grace. How do we do that? Here are some examples. Instead of seeing others as competitors, we recognize the other as a person of dignity who is in communion with us. Instead of protecting ourselves at all costs and putting up barriers, we discover the freedom of generosity. Instead of grasping our grudges and resentments tightly, we become open to the idea of forgiveness. Instead of seeking recognition and superiority, we find meaning in humble service. Instead of turning a blind eye to someone’s suffering and allowing ourselves to become indifferent, we enter the chaos of another person and allow that person’s suffering to change us. Instead of treating differences as threats, we discover the delight of being in communion. Instead of living primarily for our own satisfaction, we recognize our responsibility to and for one another. Our holiness is the transformation of our humanity through full participation in the life and love of God. We are unfinished in our “becoming.” God is continually inviting us into a deeper, more generous, more loving way of life. Our lives become transformed because we become more deeply alive in the presence of God. 

 

We often begin to think about heaven because this month is for the remembrance of All Souls. Heaven is not simply the reward for having lived a good life. Heaven is not about a place or being in a better location. Heaven is the fulfillment of our relationship with God. It is the happy contentment of sharing in God’s life, knowing God as fully as we can, and loving without the limitations that we have in our life today. The Beatitudes is God’s way of preparing us for the fulness of heaven by transforming our lives here and now. 

 

All Saints reflection . . .

 https://uscatholic.org/articles/202610/a-sunday-reflection-for-november-1-2026/

Feast of All Saints, November lst

We interrupt this war

We interrupt this war for doctors to heal,

teachers to teach, and students to learn.

We interrupt this war to marvel at sunsets,
listen to music, and to laugh.

We interrupt this war for poets to rhyme, sculptors to
chisel, and writers to paint pictures with words.

We interrupt this war to plant tomatoes, mow
the grass, and to smell the roses.

We interrupt this war to feed the hungry, build
new schools, and to stamp out ignorance.

We interrupt this war to clean up the air, save
the whales and to find a cure for cancer.

We interrupt this war to rebuild New Orleans,
tickle babies and for world peace.

We interrupt this war for PTA meetings, band
concerts, and high school graduations.

We interrupt this war for Girl Scout Cookies,
church bake sales, and the Special Olympics.

We interrupt this war for Disneyland, the
World Series, and the Super Bowl.

We interrupt this war for Halloween candy,
Thanksgiving Turkey, and 4th of July fireworks.

We interrupt this war for Hanukkah,
Christmas and Kwanza.

We interrupt this war to bring sons,
daughters, sisters and brothers home.

We interrupt this war to hear a message from
Our Sponsor: THOU SHALT NOT KILL.
 - cappy hall rearick - 2001

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Prayer for world peace

 

Great God, who has told us
"Vengeance is mine,"
save us from ourselves,
save us from the vengeance in our hearts
and the acid in our souls.

Save us from our desire to hurt as we have been hurt,
to punish as we have been punished,
to terrorize as we have been terrorized.

Give us the strength it takes
to listen rather than to judge,
to trust rather than to fear,
to try again and again
to make peace even when peace eludes us.

We ask, O God, for the grace
to be our best selves.
We ask for the vision
to be builders of the human community
rather than its destroyers.
We ask for the humility as a people
to understand the fears and hopes of other peoples.

We ask for the love it takes
to bequeath to the children of the world to come
more than the failures of our own making.
We ask for the heart it takes
to care for all the peoples
as well as for ourselves.

Give us the depth of soul, O God,
to constrain our might,
to resist the temptations of power
to refuse to attack the attackable,
to understand
that vengeance begets violence,
and to bring peace--not war--wherever we go.

For You, O God, have been merciful to us.
For You, O God, have been patient with us.
For You, O God, have been gracious to us.

And so may we be merciful
and patient
and gracious
and trusting
with these others whom you also love.

This we ask through Jesus,
the one without vengeance in his heart.
This we ask forever and ever. Amen
 - Sister Joan Chittister - Benedictine Sisters of Erie

 

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God is my enough!

 

When there is
nothing left
but God –
you become aware
that God is
enough!

In Praise of Fall!

 

In the stillness of an autumn afternoon
we sit in quiet communion. Before us,
hills and valleys yawn, spreading wide
their yellow and green, ochre and gold
harvest of hay, beans and corn.
All summer long these fields drank
daily offerings of dew and sunlight.
We listen to the hush of hills, a hawk
above us riding thermal winds,
the drying corn nearby whispering
Praise! Praise! Praise!, the grass
beneath our squeaking swing
chanting, sotto voce, Thank you, God. 
Everything around us whispers shhh.
And when we do, we hear the holy
breath of God bringing forth the world.

Poem by: Sister Irene Zimmerman, SSSF

The Sense of a Goose!

 

Our Wisconsin skies  are filled with migrating Canada Geese.  Thought it would be good to share this reading: 

In Autumn, when you see geese heading south for the winter, flying in a "V" formation, you might consider what science has discovered as to why they fly that way. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates an uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds at least 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. 
People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going more quickly and easily, because they are travelling on the thrust of one another. 

When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front. 
If we have the sense of a goose, we will stay in formation with those people who are heading the same way we are. 

When the head goose gets tired, it rotates back in the wing and another goose flies point. 
It is sensible to take turns doing demanding jobs, whether with people or with geese flying south. 

Geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. 
What message do we give when we honk from behind? 

Finally - and this is important - when a goose gets sick or is wounded by gunshot, and falls out of the formation, two other geese fall out with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly or until it dies; and only then do they launch out on their own, or with another formation to catch up with their own group. 
If we have the sense of a goose, we will stand by each other like that. (Author Unknown)