Pope Leo XIV during the Angelus prayer | Vatican Media
Every faithful is called to holiness, meaning allowing love and peace in our lives to triumph over evil and greed, Pope Leo XIV said in his Angelus message on Sunday, November 1, the Solemnity of All Saints.
Holiness means, with God’s grace, bringing forth “actions and choices of love that transcend the calculations of greed and the arrogance of evil, which at times seems to prevail,” he underlined, as he spoke to the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square from the window of the Apostolic Palace.
“May never grow weary of fostering peace, both in the most important situations and in the ordinary circumstances of everyday life.”
“Holiness is not a privilege reserved for a few,” the Pope explained, “but a universal vocation that speaks to each of us where we live.”
He emphasised that the “hope-filled message” of this feast is that “God sees the good that we do not see, knows stories that we do not know and reaches hearts to which we have no access.”
A multitude of brothers and sisters who have spread the good
In his message, Pope Leo also recalled the “countless family of men and women who,” by following Christ, have “made their lives a gift to God and to their neighbours.”
This means not only the holy men and women that the Church has formally recognised as such, but also “the countless others” from all backgrounds, cultures and walks of life, that may not be known, he noted.
“It is impossible to count this multitude of brothers and sisters, and not just in numerical terms,” the Pope explained, as “holiness, in fact, cannot be reduced to any calculation, for such is the good that all the saints have spread around them in the world.”
Quoting then the day’s Gospel, he offered a roadmap for everyone by explaining what characterises the saints: they are those who are “are poor in spirit, yet rich in God’s love. Their faces are streaked with tears, yet they find consolation in prayer. They are meek in the face of violence and rewarded by the Father. They hunger for justice, yet are filled in the depths of their consciences. They are ready to forgive and embraced by mercy. They are disarmed in heart, yet protected by God. They are peacemakers, called by name by God. They are persecuted and insulted, yet strong in faith and charity.”
Source: Vatican News