Solemnity of All Saints • The word "saint" means, "holy." God is "Holy, holy, holy." The saints are holy. That means that they are like God. Now, when we think of God, we usually think of some of his attributes:
He has no beginning and no end, he is eternal.
He is all-powerful.
He is all-knowing.
He dwells in perpetual light, joy, and peace.

Humans are exactly the opposite of God. We are little and weak. Even our smartest ones are pretty dumb. We all die easily. Even a tiny mosquito can kill us. We experience darkness, fear, sadness, and anxiety.

However, God's most fundamental attribute is this: God is love. And we were made in the image and likeness of God. We are made to love. But we fell into sin. We became selfish and mean. We became cheaters, liars, and thieves. We started hurting each other and hurting God. God looked down on humanity and saw we were miserable, sinful, guilty, and sad. And God said, "I will go down there. I will die for them."

Jesus loved us when we were most shameful and miserable. He died so we could be set free from our sins. And then he sent us the Holy Spirit to remake us in his image. The Spirit loves us inside of us. Then the Spirit teaches us how to love God and others.

So the saints are the ones who were really good at loving. They loved God with all their heart and soul. They loved others as Christ loved us. They said "Yes" to the Holy Spirit and let him transform them from sinners into saints. The Christian message is that God looks upon us poor sinners who are meek, sorrowful, and suffer, and makes us like himself. The saints have become gods. Not new gods, but sons in the Son. Becoming God-like is the process of sanctification. It is the task of every Christian.

Being a Christian is not just about getting ourselves let into heaven. Only the saints will be let into heaven, because only the saints are like God. Fortunately, anyone can be a saint. All we have to do is say "Yes" to the Holy Spirit. Holiness is about letting heaven into our hearts. It is about becoming good lovers, learning to love each other well.

We are all called to holiness because we are called to love well. But each of us has a special calling to love well in a particular place and time. This is our vocation. On All Saints Day we celebrate all the people who became good lovers. They are not super-heroes. They are simply the people who said "Yes" to the Holy Spirit and let God make them what they were created to be. The saints are like God. And you, too, were created to be a saint. God willing, after you die, today will be your feast day, too.

(4 Nov 2026)

Going Deeper: Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 460: The Word became flesh to make us "partakers of the divine nature":78 "For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God."79 "For the Son of God became man so that we might become God."80 "The only-begotten Son of God, wanting to make us sharers in his divinity, assumed our nature, so that he, made man, might make men gods."81

Listen to Interior Integration for Catholics Episode 182: The Wonder of the Neglected Gift of Deification (with Parts!) with Dr. Matthew Tsakanikas

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