I, John, saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea, saying, “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.”

And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel:

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying,

“Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing,

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
 and thanksgiving and honor
 and power and might
 be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.

On this solemnity, we remember all the saints – those recognized by the Church as saints and others who also enjoy the fullness of life with God. I think of my mother, a faithful and devout Catholic, and an elderly Methodist woman relative who lived with us when I was a child and likewise modeled for me a life of holiness, and many others. This is a good day to recall such people and thank God for them.

Today, too, I reflect on what many consider a key chapter of the documents of Vatican II – the chapter of Lumen Gentium (the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church) entitled “The Universal Call to Holiness in the Church.” It states that “all the faithful of Christ, [whatever their vocation], are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity” (#40). All are called to be saints.

What we call the theological gift of charity is that gift of Christian love infused (poured out) by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of all Christians. This gift empowers us to fulfill the “twofold yet single commandment of love” of God and neighbor which were the focus of last Sunday’s Gospel reading. It empowers us to love God and our neighbor with Christ-like, self-giving, sacrificial love.

This love is the fundamental vocation of every Christian. It is also practical and should guide us always, including how we vote on November 3, an important national election day in the United States.

—Fr. Bob Hagan, SJ, is a member of a community of senior Jesuits at Saint Ignatius Hall in Florissant, Missouri. He does limited spiritual direction, mostly online; gives sacramental care to the lay Catholics in the adjacent retirement community; writes occasional reflections for Jesuit Prayer; posts various daily items and a longer weekly reflection on the Sunday Mass readings on his Facebook site at Bob Hagan SJ; and drives fellow Jesuits who no longer drive wherever they want to go.

You, Father and Son and Holy Spirit, are infinite love. You continually reveal your love to us and pour your love into our hearts.

Help us to love you with this gift of love and all who are our neighbors in this world and so make us share your holiness.

Amen.

—Fr. Bob Hagan, SJ