Catholic Preaching by Father Roger Landry

November 01, 2025 Deacons and the Call to Holiness, All Saints Day, November 1, 2025

Fr. Roger J. Landry

Saint Paul Center, Steubenville, Ohio

Deacon Conference on “Scripture, the Soul of Sacred Theology: The Gospel of Matthew”

All Saints Day 2025

November 1, 2025

Rev 7:2-4.9-14, Ps 24, 1 Jn 3:1-3, Mt 5:1-12

To listen to an audio recording of today’s homily, please click below:

https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/catholicpreaching/11.1.25_Homily_1.mp3

The following text guided the homily:

Today on this great solemnity, we first celebrate the saints. We celebrate the great and famous saints we know about, like the holy deacons Saints Stephen, Philip, Lawrence, Ephrem, Francis of Assisi, Vincent of Zaragoza, Romanos, Alcuin, and Francis di Paola. We celebrate also the countless quiet saints, the “saints next door,” among whom we pray are numbered our deceased loved ones and those who passed on to us the gift of the faith, who died in the love of the Lord and now live in His love. The saints are the multitude who have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,” as we heard in today’s first reading, and brought those white baptismal garments “unstained into the everlasting life of heaven,” like they were instructed to do on the day of their baptism. These are the “great multitude that no one could count, from every nation,” who have not just been called “children of God” through baptism, as St. John told us in today’s second reading, but have lived as children of God throughout their lives, seeking to love God with all their mind, heart, soul and strength and to love their neighbor as Christ loved them. They are the ones who, as we prayed in the Psalm, have longed to see God’s face, who, by God’s mercy, had sinless hands, pure hearts, and desires not for vain things but for the things of God. These are the ones who have ascended “the mountain of the Lord,” the eternal Jerusalem, and who “stand in his holy place.” These are the ones who are singing today in that holy place the beautiful endless song glimpsed in the passage from Revelation, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

But All Saints Day is not just about celebrating those who have lived truly successful lives, who have received and responded to the love of God and made the eternal Hall of Fame. It’s also meant, in having us focus on them, to spur us to imitate them so that one day November 1 will in the future be our day, too. As the traditional American Gospel hymn intones, “O Lord, I want to be in that number when the saints go marching in.” St. John Paul II reminded us as we began the third Christian millennium that everything the Church does is meant to help us become holy, to help us respond to what the Second Vatican Council called the “universal call to holiness.” St. John Paul II wrote, “Since Baptism is a true entry into the holiness of God through incorporation into Christ and the indwelling of his Spirit, it would be a contradiction to settle for a life of mediocrity, marked by a minimalist ethic and a shallow religiosity. To ask catechumens: ‘Do you wish to receive Baptism?’ means at the same time to ask them: ‘Do you wish to become holy?’ It means to set before them the radical nature of the Sermon on the Mount: ‘Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect’ (Mt5:48).” He continued, “This ideal of perfection must not be misunderstood as if it involved some kind of extraordinary existence, possible only for a few ‘uncommon heroes’ of holiness. … The time has come to re-propose wholeheartedly to everyone this high standard of ordinary Christian living: the whole life of the Christian community … must lead in this direction.” On All Saints Day each year the Church indeed reproposes wholeheartedly this high standard of the Christian life, that God calls us not to mediocrity, or minimalism, or shallowness, but to the perfection of love. All Saints Day is meant to inspire us to will the means to that end, to choose the narrow road that leads to life, and to invoke the powerful intercession of the saints so that we will indeed be among the great multitude in white garments who will ascend the Lord’s mountain and fulfill our dignity made in the image and likeness of God who is holy, holy, holy.

This is a special call for the ministers of the Church. When I preach retreats for priests and seminarians, I normally try to get their attention early by proclaiming emphatically, “God has not called you to be priests.” After a pregnant pause, as I wait for someone to start the chant, “Crucifige eum! Crucifige eum!,” I then add, “He has called you to be a holy priest or no priest at all.” I could say the same thing to each of you: God has not called you just to be a deacon. He’s called you to become a saint as a deacon. The Sacrament of Holy Orders is holy not just because it is ordered to our thrice holy God and the holy things of God, but also because it has the power of sanctification if we’re open to it, if we’re cooperative with the graces. The intensified call of every deacon to holiness is emphasized in the Vatican’s Directory for the Ministry and Life of Deacons, where the Church reminds us: “By the Sacrament of Holy Orders, deacons receive a ‘a new consecration to God’ through which they are ‘anointed by the Holy Spirit and sent by Christ’ to serve God’s people and ‘build up the Body of Christ.’ From this stems the diaconal spiritualitywith its source in what the Second Vatican Council calls ‘the sacramental grace of the diaconate.’ In addition to helping the deacon to fulfil his functions, this also affects his deepest being, imbuing it with a willingness to give his entire self over to the service of the Kingdom of God in the Church. … The deacon is called to live a holy life because he has been sanctified by the Holy Spirit in the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Orders and has been constituted by the same Spirit a minister of Christ’s Church to serve and sanctify mankind.”

The three-fold service of the deacon — as a minister of the Word, of the altar and of charity — all are meant to sanctify him and make him an instrument for the sanctification of others in the Church. Holiness is the perfection of charity and, as we see in an unforgettable way in the life of the deacon St. Lawrence, deacons, through their care for the poor, for the sick, for the homebound and those in nursing homes, for the imprisoned, are able to grow in their conformity to Christ the Deacon who called all of us, but in a particular deacons, to become great through serving the rest in imitation of him who came to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. Likewise it’s straightforward to grasp how service at the altar is meant to sanctify. As the Directory for the Ministry and Life of Deacons underlines, “The liturgy is the source of grace and sanctification. Its efficacy derives from Christ the Redeemer and does not depend on the holiness of the minister. This certainty should cause the deacon to grow in humility since he can never compromise the salvific work of Christ. At the same time it should inspire him to holiness of life so that he may be a worthy minister of the liturgy.” To be able to serve the Eucharistic Lord Jesus so intimately, to hold aloft the chalice of his Precious Blood one drop of which is enough to save the whole world, to be able to receive the Lord first after the priest and then have the awesome privilege to hold him in his hands and give him — give God — to others is one of the greatest gifts any human being can have. As long as it doesn’t become routine, as long as faith is maintained and his first love remains ardent, we’re bound to become more and more like the Lord Jesus whom we adore, receive, handle and give to others, in imitation of the way Mary’s and Joseph’s holiness grew through their daily interaction with Jesus in Bethlehem, Egypt and Nazareth.

But within this Deacons Conference on Scripture as the Soul of Sacred Theology, I would like to spend more time pondering the connection between the Word of God and Christian and ministerial holiness. This morning in the Vatican, Pope Leo proclaimed St. John Henry Newman the 38th Doctor of the Church and co-patron, with St. Thomas Aquinas, of the Church’s educational mission. In a homily the future Cardinal entitled, “Holiness Necessary for Future Blessedness,” he said, “The great end of all revelation is holiness. The Word of God is given us, not to make us learned, but to make us holy.” Scripture is meant not just to inform but to transform, to make us more like Jesus, the incarnate Word. That happens when we hear the Word of God as a word-to-be-done. Elsewhere our new ecclesial doctor said, “We cannot understand the Word of God unless we obey it. To read it with a heart of obedience is the way to see its power and light.” And that power and light has a chance to bring us to holiness, happiness and heaven. Newman told us, “The Word of God, when planted within us, is a seed which grows up unto eternal life; it takes root and becomes part of ourselves.” And the holier we become, the more like Christ, like Mary, like the saints, the better we will understand the Word of God and the greater its power and light. Saint John Henry preached, “The pure in heart alone see God, and therefore they alone can interpret His Word aright.” This transformation is what’s meant to occur in the life of everyone in whose hands is placed the Book of the Gospels and who is instructed: “Receive the Gospel of Christ whose herald you now have become. Believe what you read, teach what you believe, and practice what you teach.” We are summoned to practice the Gospel of Christ, to live it full of faith and to share it as the treasure it is. The way we will become powerful preachers of the Word of God is by the way we become its living commentaries.

This connection between the Word of God and sanctity has been underlined by the Church throughout her history. St. Gregory the Great taught 1400 years ago, viva lectio est vita bonorum, that the life of the good (the saints) is a living reading of God’s word. Before Christians, before Ministers of the Word are summoned to proclaim the Gospel to every creature’s ears, they called to manifest it to their eyes. The word of God most accurately when it is enfleshed in those who have received it in faith and made it the key to their life. Pope Benedict XVI focused on this connection 15 years ago this month in his apostolic exhortation on the Word of God in the life and mission of the Church, Verbum Domini. He wrote, “The interpretation of sacred Scripture would remain incomplete were it not to include listening to those who have truly lived the word of God: namely, the saints. … The most profound interpretation of Scripture comes precisely from those who let themselves be shaped by the word of God through listening, reading and assiduous meditation. It is certainly not by chance that the great currents of spirituality in the Church’s history originated with an explicit reference to Scripture. I am thinking for example of Saint Anthony the Abbot, who was moved by hearing Christ’s words: ‘If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me’ (Mt 19:21). No less striking is the question posed by Saint Basil the Great in the Moralia: ‘What is the distinctive mark of faith? Full and unhesitating certainty that the words inspired by God are true … What is the distinctive mark of the faithful? Conforming their lives with the same complete certainty to the meaning of the words of Scripture, not daring to remove or add a single thing.’ Saint Benedict, in his Rule, refers to Scripture as ‘a most perfect norm for human life.’ Saint Francis of Assisi – we learn from Thomas of Celano – ‘upon hearing that the disciples of Christ must possess neither gold, nor silver nor money, nor carry a bag, nor bread, nor a staff for the journey, nor sandals nor two tunics … exulting in the Holy Spirit, immediately cried out: ‘This is what I want, this is what I ask for, this I long to do with all my heart!’ Saint Clare of Assisi shared fully in the experience of Saint Francis: ‘The form of life of the Order of Poor Sisters – she writes – is this: to observe the holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ So too, Saint Dominic ‘everywhere showed himself to be a man of the Gospel, in word as in deed,’ and wanted his friars likewise to be ‘men of the Gospel.’ The Carmelite Saint Teresa of Avila, who in her writings constantly uses biblical images to explain her mystical experiences, says that Jesus himself revealed to her that ‘all the evil in the world is derived from not knowing clearly the truths of sacred Scripture.’ Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus discovered that love was her personal vocation by poring over the Scriptures, especially Chapters 12 and 13 of the First Letter to the Corinthians; the same saint describes the attraction of the Scriptures: ‘No sooner do I glance at the Gospel, but immediately I breathe in the fragrance of the life of Jesus and I know where to run.’ Every saint is like a ray of light streaming forth from the word of God. … The Holy Spirit who inspired the sacred authors is the same Spirit who impels the saints to offer their lives for the Gospel. In striving to learn from their example, we set out on the sure way towards a living and effective hermeneutic of the word of God.” The saints are not just those who can better interpret the Word of God but are, in some ways, the most powerful interpretation.

If this is true, and it is, then we have to confront head on with faith the summons Jesus gives us today in the Words that began the Sermon on the Mount. In the beatitudes, Jesus shows us his path, he reveals to us the way to holiness in day-to-day existence, and he wants to help us to choose it. This path that Jesus describes stands in stark contrast to the road that most of the people in the world, including most of those we’re privileged to serve, believe will lead to human fulfillment now and later. The world tells us that to be happy, we have to be rich. Jesus says, rather, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they will inherit the kingdom of heaven.” The world tells us we’ll be happy when we don’t have a concern in the world. Jesus says, on the other hand, “Blessed are those” who are so concerned with others that “they mourn” over their own and others’ miseries, “for they will be comforted” by him eternally. Worldly know-it-alls say, “You have to be strong and powerful to be happy.” Jesus, in contrast, retorts, “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” The spiritually worldly shout increasingly more each day that to be happy, we have to have all our sexual fantasies fulfilled. Jesus, however, says “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God.” The world preaches, “You’re happy when you accept yourself,” and espouses an “I’m okay, you’re okay,” brand of moral relativism. Jesus says, though, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for holiness for they will be satisfied.” The world says, “You’re happy when you don’t start a fight, but finish it,” and lives by the philosophy of might-makes-right in both interpersonal and international contexts, but Jesus says “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy” and “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” And our culture increasingly declares, “You’re happy when everyone considers you nice, when you don’t have an enemy in the world,” while Jesus says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake” and “Blessed are you when people revile you, persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account,” for your reward will be the kingdom of heaven. Jesus makes plain for us the path to holiness. It’s the path he himself took. But it’s a path few people choose to take. It’s a path honestly that few deacons, priests and bishops really take. Today Jesus is calling us to follow him on that path, and all the saints are praying for us to have the trust and courage to do so. As St. John Paul II preached to young people 25 years ago on the Mount of the Beatitudes in Galilee, “The words of Jesus may seem strange. It is strange that Jesus exalts those whom the world generally regards as weak. He says to them, ‘Blessed are you who seem to be losers, because you are the true winners: the kingdom of heaven is yours!’ … To put your faith in Jesus means choosing to believe what he says, no matter how strange it may seem, and choosing to reject the claims of evil, no matter how sensible or attractive they may seem. … In the end, Jesus does not merely speak the Beatitudes. He lives the Beatitudes. He is the Beatitudes. Looking at him you will see what it means to be poor in spirit, gentle and merciful, to mourn, to care for what is right, to be pure in heart, to make peace, to be persecuted. … He does not say simply, ‘Do what I say.’ He says, ‘Come, follow me!’”

Today, Jesus wants to reinvigorate us in our baptismal vocations, in our diaconal and priestly vocations, in our universal vocation to holiness. Whenever he calls us to anyone, he wills the means for us to fulfill that summons. As he tells us again today live in the Gospel, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied,” he himself comes to feed that hunger and satiate that thirst. That’s what he does in the Eucharist, which is the food of the saints. When we receive Jesus worthily and well, we enter into an intense communion with him who is holy, holy, holy, as he seeks to sanctify us from the inside out. Worshipping Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, inside of us after Holy Communion and outside of us in Eucharistic Adoration, is the best means to prepare us for what the saints now eternally enjoy. That’s why Saint Carlo Acutis, canonized less than two months ago, called the Eucharist, “My highway to heaven,” because it is the most direct and fastest route to communion with Christ’s holiness on earth and to eternal communion with him in the Father’s house. So let us ask the Lord as we get ready to receive him to stir up in us a ravenous hunger and insatiable thirst for holiness, so that we might resolve with all our hearts to live by Jesus’ high standards of ordinary Christian living, to live by the special calling we have received in the Sacrament of Holy Orders, and, through the Eucharist, speed along the highway to heaven to that place where Saint Carlo, John Henry, Stephen, Philip, Lawrence, Ephrem, Francis, Vincent, Mary, Joseph, Paul, all the angels and saints are praying for us, and together with Triune God, are waiting for us.

The readings for today’s Mass were:

Reading 1 RV 7:2-4, 9-14

I, John, saw another angel come up from the East,

holding the seal of the living God.

He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels

who were given power to damage the land and the sea,

“Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees

until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”

I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal,

one hundred and forty-four thousand marked

from every tribe of the children of Israel.

After this I had a vision of a great multitude,

which no one could count,

from every nation, race, people, and tongue.

They stood before the throne and before the Lamb,

wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.

They cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne,

and from the Lamb.”All the angels stood around the throne

and around the elders and the four living creatures.

They prostrated themselves before the throne,

worshiped God, and exclaimed:“Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving,

honor, power, and might

be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me,

“Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?”

I said to him, “My lord, you are the one who knows.”

He said to me,

“These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress;

they have washed their robes

and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.”

Responsorial Psalm PS 24:1BC-2, 3-4AB, 5-6

R. (see 6) Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

The LORD’s are the earth and its fullness;

the world and those who dwell in it.

For he founded it upon the seas

and established it upon the rivers.

R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?

or who may stand in his holy place?

One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean,

who desires not what is vain.

R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,

a reward from God his savior.

Such is the race that seeks him,

that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.

R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

Reading 2 1 JN 3:1-3

Beloved:

See what love the Father has bestowed on us

that we may be called the children of God.

Yet so we are.

The reason the world does not know us

is that it did not know him.

Beloved, we are God’s children now;

what we shall be has not yet been revealed.

We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,

for we shall see him as he is.

Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure,

as he is pure.

Alleluia MT 11:28

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,

and I will give you rest, says the Lord.

R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel MT 5:1-12A

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,

and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.

He began to teach them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are they who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the land.

Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

Blessed are the clean of heart,

for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,

for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you

and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.

Rejoice and be glad,

for your reward will be great in heaven.”

The post Deacons and the Call to Holiness, All Saints Day, November 1, 2025 appeared first on Catholic Preaching.

...more

Share Catholic Preaching

Sign up to save your podcasts

Catholic Preaching

FAQs about Catholic Preaching:

How many episodes does Catholic Preaching have?

Catholic Preaching episodes:

FAQs about Catholic Preaching:

How many episodes does Catholic Preaching have?

More shows like Catholic Preaching

Bishop Barron’s Sunday Sermons - Catholic Preaching and Homilies

Sunday Homilies with Fr. Mike Schmitz

The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture

The Thomistic Institute

St. Josemaria Institute Podcast

First Things Podcast

Pints With Aquinas

All Things Catholic with Dr. Edward Sri

The Counsel of Trent

Catholic Daily Reflections

Every Knee Shall Bow (Your Catholic Evangelization Podcast)

Godsplaining

Catholic Saints

Catholic Bible Study

Chris Stefanick Catholic Show