Student Reflection: All Saints’ Day

Good morning, students, faculty, staff, and guests. I am Dominic Munaretto of the Class of 2025. Today, we celebrate All Saints’ Day, which commemorates all the saints of the Church who have reached Heaven. As defined by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, saints are “persons in heaven, officially canonized or not, who lived heroically virtuous lives, offered their lives in service to others or were martyred, and who are worthy of imitation.” As Catholics, we can view All Saints’ Day as a time to reflect upon the lives of the saints and remember that they are alongside us on our faith journey. 

Today’s second reading comes from the First Letter of St John. Chapter 3, verse 2 states, “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” (1 John 3:2). When considering this reading, I found that it reinforced two ideas for me. The first is that we are all destined to do great things. No matter what doubts we hold about our future and our existence, God has a plan for all of us. Not one person in this room knows for certain what their future holds for them, but we can all rest easily knowing that there are good things to come. Additionally, we must realize that some things will not be revealed until the moment in which God deems it right in our lives. Because of this, it is paramount that we remember to trust in God. Without trust in God, we may feel lost and uncertain about where we are headed. If we instead choose to have faith in God and that he has a plan for all of us, then we may find ourselves more confident in the great things that our future holds.  

In my personal experience, I have found that learning about the saints and their lives is one way to strengthen beliefs like those that I just mentioned. For example, consider the life of St. Augustine of Hippo. Before his conversion to a faithful life, St. Augustine was a thief, had an illicit child, and was even a leader of a heretical group. In his memoir titled The Confessions, he wrote, “I was torn piecemeal, while turned from Thee, the One Good, I lost myself among a multiplicity of things…pleasing myself, and desirous to please in the eyes of men.” He led a very secular life and found himself at odds with many teachings of the Church. However, after living this immoral life, God was able to lead St. Augustine into a conversion, after which he went on to become one of the most renowned theologians of all time, to the point of being recognized as a doctor of the Catholic Church. This knowledge of Saint Augustine's life can help show us that who we are right now does not define who we will become. We are all imperfect, just as the saints were. We are all human, and we all have flaws. Nonetheless, we are all called to live holy lives - to be saints! Just because you are unhappy with your identity at the moment, whether it be spiritually, mentally, physically, or socially, does not mean that you cannot change with God’s help to become the great person that God has created you to be. There is no limit to what we can achieve and who we can become with God by our side. Even if you have strayed so far off of the path that you have been told that you are past a point of no return, God will always accept you back. Do not be discouraged by negative people around you; the only eyes whose judgment truly matters are the eyes of the Lord. Who we are at any given moment does not constrain who we can be in the future; by having faith in God, we can embrace a new path and become whatever and whoever we are called to be.

 

As we continue to celebrate the Solemnity of All Saints, I challenge all of you to embrace who you truly are called to be and accept the Lord as your traveling companion in this life and in the life to come. Who and what we will be in the future is unknown to all of us. Saint Augustine did not think that he would become a saint when he was a young boy stealing to console his boredom. Saint Paul the Apostle did not have a hint of respect for the Christian faith when he was persecuting and killing Christians, but after his conversion, he went down as one of the fiercest defenders of Christianity. Only God knows who we are truly meant to be, and it is up to us to accept his guidance. By trusting in God and realizing that we can embrace a new path at any given moment, we too can become saints, no matter where we find ourselves spiritually right now. Thank you.