Pope Leo XIV stated this Sunday, the Solemnity of All Saints, that “holiness is not a privilege for a few, but a universal vocation that challenges each one of us wherever we live.” The Pope said this in the reflection before the recitation of the Angelus, which he led from the window of the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican, according to the text published by Vatican News.
The pontiff began with the Gospel of the Beatitudes (Mt 5, 1-12) and the vision of the Apocalypse (Rev 7, 9) about the immense multitude from all nations. He recalled that the Church celebrates on this feast both the officially recognized saints and many others known only to God, describing them as “the most beautiful and strongest sign of the Kingdom of God” already present among men, according to the Spanish chronicle from Vatican News.
A holiness that cannot be counted
Pope Leo XIV emphasized that this multitude cannot be counted, because holiness cannot be reduced to any calculation and is measured in “gestures and decisions of love” that, he said, surpass “the calculations of greed and the arrogance of evil.” In this way, the Pope insisted that the call to be holy reaches every baptized person, regardless of their origin, culture, or life circumstances.
Along these lines, the Holy Father offered a more personal reflection on God’s gaze: the message of the feast, he explained, is that “God sees the good that we do not see,” knows stories that men ignore, and reaches hearts to which no one else has access. The phrase, which closes the core of his reflection, invites us not to judge holiness by appearances or public recognition.
The petition to the Virgin and peace
At the end of his address, Pope Leo XIV asked the Virgin Mary to accompany the faithful on the path of holiness and in the building of peace, both in great events and in everyday life. The mention of peace, according to the Vatican News text, is thus linked to the universal vocation to holiness that he had presented shortly before.
The Pope had already dedicated his catechesis at the general audience on April 8 to this issue, in which he spoke of the universal call to holiness in light of the constitution Lumen gentium of the Second Vatican Council. The previous Sunday, in another Angelus, he had affirmed that love for God must overflow into love for neighbor.