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Let the Scriptures Speak
Solemnity of All Saints
Novemeber 1, 2015
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“After this I had a vision of a great multitude,
which no one could count, from every nation,
race, people, and tongue.” (Rev 7:9)
The Communion of Saints
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On these first days of November, we celebrate two
feasts—All Saints and All Souls—which draw us into one of
the most consoling doctrines of the Roman Catholic faith,
the communion of saints. Our tradition has learned to
speak of three “states of the church”: pilgrimage,
purification, and glory. We (roughly two billion) baptized
Christians currently alive on planet Earth trek on in the
state of pilgrimage. Those who have died in the grace of
God are either in the state of glory (united fully with
God in heaven) or are moving through a process of
purification (continuing their pilgrimage, in a sense)
toward the state of glory.
The teaching on the communion of saints provides the
context for these feasts, for it is that doctrine that
acknowledges the union, enabled by baptism and Eucharist,
that exists between the living and the dead. The doctrine
rests in part on the conviction that any good done by one
part of the community that is the body of Christ impacts
on the rest of that body. This entails especially prayer
of petition and reparation, and it transcends the apparent
barrier of death moving both ways, from the living to the
(biologically) deceased and from them to us. That is true
all year long, of course, but the Church chooses these two
days to wake us up to our communal connection with those
who have gone before us.
 We can enjoy what the media and the marketplace do with
the fun and fantasy of Halloween and
el dia de los muertos, but the Scripture readings
remind us of the realities behind the folklore. The
apocalyptic imagery of Revelation presents first the
stylized picture of 144,000 from every tribe of Israel.
But, lest we think this is a literal census of those who
have achieved the state of glory (precisely 144,000 places
and no waiting list), the passage goes on to describe
those in heaven in another image, “a great multitude which
no one could count from every nation, race, people, and
tongue.” (Attention to this passage alone should be enough
to cure anyone of biblical fundamentalism.)
If we think we have a clear idea of what the blessed enjoy,
the
Second Reading
reminds us “we are God's children now; what we shall be has
not yet been revealed.” But documented testimony,
authenticated miracles, and the scrutiny of devil's
advocates have assured us that many of our faith community
have indeed arrived at the state of glory. And the
Beatitudes of the
Gospel
remind us that the state of the blessed is an invitation to
all of us to recognize our need for God and act upon it.
Dennis Hamm, SJ
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Fr. Hamm is emeritus professor of the New Testament
at Creighton University in Omaha. He has published
articles in The Catholic Biblical Quarterly, The
Journal Of Biblical Literature, Biblica, The Journal
for the Study of the New Testament, America, Church;
and a number of encyclopedia entries, as well as the
book, The Beatitudes in Context (Glazier, 1989), and
three other books.
Copyright © 2001, Dennis Hamm, SJ
All rights reserved.
Permission is hereby granted to reproduce for personal
or parish use.
Art by Martin Erspamer, O.S.B.
from Religious Clip Art for the Liturgical Year (A,
B, and C).
Used by permission of Liturgy Training Publications. This
art may be reproduced only by parishes who purchase the
collection in book or CD-ROM form. For more information go
to:
http://www.ltp.org/
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