The Feast of All Saints is one of the greatest of all the feasts because it celebrates what could have been impossible. The cross is a tree that bears fruit. This is the feast of its harvest. The celebrations of the mysteries in the life of Our Lord are glorious and there is no detracting from them. But he was God. This day we celebrate the perfecting of human nature, by grace pouring from the side of Christ on the cross, through His Church and his sacraments, remarking human nature after their despoiling in the Garden.
Aside from all the lofty things to be said about the saints and to the saints on this day, we want us to understand in the marrow of their bones what the principal idea is: “We are so glad for you. Now pray, so we’ll be there too!” And they must add to this and to every feast an endless: “Thank you, Lord Jesus, for making it possible.”
The Sunday of the Righteous and the Just originated in the Church’s celebration of all Martyrs Day. In the early days of the Church almost all the saints, who has been recognized by the Church or acclaimed by the faithful, were martyrs for the faith. The origin of the feast explains its spiritual and theological significance: like Jesus who died on the cross, a saint is a Christian who dies to the world and lives solely for Christ. In this sense, we all called to martyrdom for to live for Christ is to renounce one’s self and put on the new self that is Christ living in us.