Solemnity of All Saints
“Happy are the pure in heart: they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8
Liturgical colour: White & gold
For grown-ups
Today the Church celebrates All Saints, and the Gospel gives us Jesus on the mountain, teaching the Beatitudes. John’s vision in Revelation shows a crowd too great to count, from every nation, standing before God. The saints are not a small group of unusually perfect people; they are ordinary men, women and children who trusted Jesus and let Him make them gentle, merciful and pure in heart.
The second reading says we are God’s children now. For a family, that makes holiness look very small and very doable: saying sorry first, sharing the last biscuit, forgiving after a squabble, praying for one another. Your children are watching how you do these things. You are not expected to be a finished saint, only a saint in training beside them, and Jesus promises that the pure in heart will see God.
Dinner-table questions
- What is a saint, and which saint do you know about?
- What could you do to be a peacemaker when someone is cross?
- How do you think it feels to be with God in heaven?
This Sunday’s readings
- First reading
- Revelation 7:2–4, 9–14
- Psalm
- Psalm 24 — Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.
- Second reading
- 1 John 3:1–3
- Gospel
- Matthew 5:1–12