All Saints Day - Nov 1
We are used to only calling those canonized by the Church "Saints." However, Scripture makes it clear that all of us who arrive in heaven are called saints. Perhaps the best way to look at it is capital "Saints" and lower case "saints." The capitalized saints are merely the saintly hall-of-famers who gave their lives to God, often literally.
So, "All Saints Day" celebrates every human who is in heaven. It is a great feast of triumph, a triumph that in one sense even “exceeds” the triumph of Easter. For on Easter we celebrate the victory of the God-man over evil, whereas on All Saints we celebrate the victory of frail human beings over evil.
Of course, this is not to pit the two against each other, since it is through the power of Jesus-Christ that we conquer anything.
Holiness. We should recall that the saints were not super-human; often they started out quite fallen like everyone else. Therefore, holiness is not outside the reach of anyone. Holiness only requires our humility to let the Holy Spirit guide our lives, moment by moment, through each day. This is made achievable through the grace we receive in the Sacraments, starting with our Baptism and continuing with the regular infusion of the Holy Trinity through the Eucharist and periodically running our souls through the washing machine of reconciliation.
All Souls Day - Nov 2
As for All Souls Day, we Catholics are aware that at the moment of death, we are not always the kind of persons we should be for all eternity; hence, a process of purification follows death before we share life with God. Based on this awareness – which is rooted in tradition and scripture – we have a custom of praying for the deceased, that God may grant them speedy purification. For this we have All Souls Day, a day set aside to pray for all of souls; in this way, none of our brothers and sisters who have gone ahead of us will be forgotten. And neither will we be forgotten when our time comes.
Ps. For those who have been taught that Jesus' death for us was sufficient such that we can go straight to heaven: Jesus' death was indeed sufficient for every human being who ever lived times a billion+. However, what the bible calls for is our response to that offer - not just in one statement of salvific belief but also by living that belief as we grow closer to Him through the HS. In purgatory, as we come face to face with and reconcile all our unreconciled sins, we grow in happiness because each step is growing closer to God.
Maranatha!
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