Reflection for Sunday November 1st, 2026

All Saints - Solemnity

Solemnity of All Saints (Matt 5:1-12)

In pre-Christian Ireland, Summer began with the festival of Bealtine, a celebration of the start of Summer. Tine is the Irish for fire. Bealtine means a bright fire to honour Baal/Belanus, a pagan god in ancient times.
Six months later, the November feast of Samhain marked the entry into the season of darkness and coldness.

It was the threshold between light and darkness, between the material and spiritual worlds, between life and death when the spirits of the departed were thought to be very near. Some were harmful while others were playful, offering trick or treat.

Come Holy Spirit, renew the heart of the Church, renew the face of the Earth. Enkindle within us the fire of your love.

It’s not clear when exactly the Church took over and gave a Christian meaning to the celebration. What better way to give meaning to the season of death than to celebrate all the saints who passed from this fragile life to the eternal joy of heaven? Halloween means the evening before All Saints Day.
Sadly, as Christianity is waning, the pagan customs are re-emerging with witches, skeletons and dark webs set up by evil spirits. It may be fun, but many have lost the celebration of All Saints. It’s interesting that many people today call it All Hollows instead of All Hallows (meaning All Holy Saints).

Saints lived the Gospel

Saint John Paul II beatified and canonized more saints than all his predecessors. He often referred to the living theology of the saints. He saw that the lives of the saints taught more theology and Christian living, than books.
At a time when scandals in the Church were beginning to be published, the recognition of so many saintly people was a statement that the Church isn’t totally bad. It is a historical fact that the lowest periods of the Church produced the greatest saints. Rather, the Spirit of Pentecost breathed afresh to renew the face of the earth, enkindling the fire of divine love in the hearts of new saints. The valley of dry bones was filled with life under the breath of God. G.K. Chesterton, with his typical humour wrote: “There were five times when the Church went to the dogs but it was the dogs who died!” The Church is guided by the Holy Spirit who renews the face of the Earth.

Where do we stand today?

It is obvious that we are in a very low period today, with closure of churches, ageing clergy, lack of seminarians, and smeared with scandals. The tide has to go out fully before it begins to come in again. How further out must it go? When will people begin to sense that there is a God-shaped emptiness in the human heart? Every night the News reports at least one murder. Marriages break up. The threat of destruction of this planet is caused by human lifestyle. The gap between rich and poor is constantly widening. Not only the Church, but all society needs serious reformation. Surely, a return to religion will be the answer.
Our November commences, not celebrating darkness, but the light of All Saints.

A Prayer to be repeated every day

Come Holy Spirit, renew the heart of the Church, renew the face of the Earth.
Enkindle within us the fire of your love.