by Father Alonzo Cox

My home parish in Brooklyn is named after our Blessed Mother under the title “Queen of All Saints.” As a kid growing up in this parish, I was always enamored with this title of Mary. I was familiar with many of the others, such as Queen of Heaven and Earth and Queen of Peace.

Mary, Queen of All Saints, took a very special place in my heart and in the very beginnings of my spiritual life. I had this image of all the saints in heaven, gathered around our Blessed Mother Mary, interceding for us here on this earth as we strive to follow Jesus, her son, to the kingdom that awaits us.

On this solemnity of All Saints, we celebrate all those who have gone before us, whom the Church has formally recognized as saints.

Today’s beautiful solemnity is a reminder that each of us is called to holiness of life. We look to the example of the saints as people of hope, faith, and perseverance in walking with the Lord. How beautiful that our Blessed Mother Mary, Queen of All Saints, intercedes for us, her children, with all the saints and martyrs, leading us ever so closer to the heart of her son Jesus Christ.

Saints are ordinary men and women who do extraordinary acts for God. We are reminded in today’s second reading from the First Letter of St. John that we are all children of God.

It is through the Father’s immense love that each of us is called a child of God. As children of God, we are called to cultivate God’s love by becoming more like his son, Jesus.

Saints are those men and women who boldly and courageously spread God’s love during their time on earth. Our ultimate vocation on this earth is to live out God’s love and to spread it to all the nations.

We recognize those men and women who even gave the ultimate sacrifice of their lives, fulfilling their vocation to give witness to God’s love. Our first reading from the Book of Revelation shows us John’s image of a great multitude that could not be counted. It included angels who stood around the throne, giving worship to God, shouting blessings and thanksgiving. This multitude represents the many saints, martyrs, virgins, blesseds, and servants of God, who have gone before us, marked with the sign of faith. They are now in the kingdom that awaits all of us, as we strive to be like Christ and give light to a world that often walks in immense darkness.

We hear in today’s Gospel the Beatitudes.

The Beatitudes are our guide in helping us light the way, leading us to God. The Beatitudes give us clear guidance and assurance that we have the courage to become more Christlike in all we say and do. The saints themselves carried out the spirit of the Beatitudes, allowing Christ to be at the center of their lives.

It is in all the good and holy work that we do that we bask in the reality that our reward will be great in heaven.

As we celebrate this solemnity of All Saints, we give thanks and praise to God for giving us the gift of his only begotten son, Jesus.

It is from Jesus that we are called to be his witnesses here on earth, spreading the good news of the kingdom. We look to the saints in heaven to intercede for us and to guide us to the heart of the savior and the eternal kingdom that awaits us. May our Lady, Queen of All Saints, lead us to the joys of everlasting life with her son, Jesus Christ.

Father Alonzo Cox is pastor of St. Martin de Porres Parish, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and coordinator for the Vicariate of Black Catholic Concerns for the Diocese of Brooklyn.