Today we celebrate the Solemnity of All saints. It would seem unfair to single out one single saint where our feast calls for us to contemplate the whole plethora of them- the entire sanctoral pantheon of heaven. St. Pope John Paul II, who recently canonized by Pope Francis, often being accused of operating a "factory of saints." He refuted the claim that we have "too many" saints. During his 26 years of pontificate, he named more saints and blessed than all his predecessors combined. He celebrated 147 beatification ceremonies, during which he proclaimed 1,338 blessed and performed 51 canonisations for a total of 482 saints. Now, one of you may ask why should our praise and glorification, or even the celebration of this feast day mean anything to the saints? What do they care about earthly honours when their heavenly Father honours them by fulfilling their faithful promise of the Son? What does our commendation mean to them?
The saints have no need of honour from us; neither does our devotion add the slightest thing to what is theirs. Clearly, if we venerate their memory, it serves us, not them. According to the Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Jose Saraiva, there were three principal reasons for Saint Pope John Paul II enthusiasm in seeing the beatification of saints or the beautification of the church.
First, the Pope gave was that he, by beatifying so many Servants of God, did no more than implement the Second Vatican Council, which vigorously reaffirmed that holiness is the essential mark of the church; that the Church is holy: ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, APOSTOLIC (4 marks of the church). Saint Pope John Paul II said that if the Church of Christ is not holy, it isn't the Church of Christ, the true Church of Christ, the one he desired and founded to continue his mission throughout the centuries. Therefore, he added, holiness is what is most important in the Church. What better way to demonstrate this by highlighting and presenting to all Catholics many models of holiness in the form of saints?
Second, the extraordinary ecumenical importance of holiness. In the Pope's Agenda for the Third Millennium, the Pope said that the holiness of the saints, blessed and martyrs is perhaps the most convincing form of ecumenism, because holiness has its ultimate foundation in Christ, in whom the Church is not divided. Therefore, the ecumenism we all want calls for many saints, so that the convincing ecumenism of holiness is placed in the candelabrum of the holiness of the Church.
The third reason was that "the saints and blessed manifest the charity of a local church." Saint Pope John Paul II correctly noted that local churches are far more numerous than in the 10 centuries. Therefore, we shouldn't be surprised that there are also more saints, more blessed who express and manifest the holiness of these increased local churches.
Today, let us praise and thank God for the little saints, past and present - even the saints that are present in our midst. Each of you have your baptism name, a name of a saint. Today is everyone's feast day. Happy Feast Day to one and all of you!
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