All Saint's Day November 1, 2026

All Saint's Day, November 1, 2026

 All Saint’s Day - Sunday Gospel Reflections

“The saints are, so to speak, our older brothers and sisters in the

family of God. They want to take us by the hand and lead us, and               their lives tell us: “If this person or that could do it, why can’t I?”

It is because the saints are like older brothers and sisters to us that we turn to the saints asking their help, prayers, and intercession. Most Christian Churches do not pray to the saints asking for their help and assistance but rather pray to God with the saints as brothers and sisters. We pray to the saints, asking them to appeal to God on our behalf for our needs and for a resolution for problems.

Because the saints are like older brothers and sisters, we pray the Litany of the Saints at important moments in the life of the Church, calling on the saints to give us their support and protection. Holy Mary, Mother of God...pray for us. Saint Michael...pray for us. Holy Angels of God...pray for us. Saint John the Baptist...pray for us. Saint Joseph...pray for us. And so on. We ask the saints to intercede for us during the most important moments of our lives because, since they are in heaven and see God face to face, their prayers and intercession for us are powerful. We pray a short form of the Litany of the Saints during every baptism for those about to be baptized. We pray the Litany of the Saints during the ordination of a deacon, priest, or bishop while they are prostrate on the cathedral floor, asking the saints to pray and intercede for the man about to be ordained a deacon, priest, or bishop.

Not only are the saints like older brothers and sisters in the family of God, but the saints are reflections of Jesus. We see something of Jesus in each of the saints. In the saints, Jesus becomes concrete. In the saints, we see what it means to imitate Jesus. If we want to learn about Jesus or the Church, we can look to the lives of the saints. We learn from the writings of the saints, from how they lived, and from how they died. Just think of the martyrs who remained faithful to Jesus even when this meant death for them. Today we rejoice in the Lord for the saints who are our older brothers and sisters, who struggled like us but were joyful, and to whom we can now turn asking them to pray for us.