In the days leading up to Halloween, we buy candy and treats for the ghosts and goblins who will come to our doors. To ensure we had enough, some may have purchased a little extra for the days and weeks after Halloween.

Stores in the area will soon morph into their Christmas mode with a spattering of Thanksgiving turkeys, turnips and squash. Perhaps, a pilgrim might appear with Santa Claus not far behind.

So, on Sunday, November 1, we come to church to celebrate All Saints. We will hear from the Book of Revelation, St John’s mysterious tome that can leave us puzzled and/or curious. Well, the Book of Revelation was the “Star Wars” of its time. The evil empire of the film was the Roman Empire actively persecuting Christians. The Christians pledged their loyalty to the Republic of Christ’s kingdom forcing them to struggle for their faith.

We are blessed in the United States, at least most of the time, with religious freedom until some form of government or some other noisy group seeks to curtail that freedom of expression. We do not suffer persecution as did those early Christians. However, we know that many Christians in many parts of the world fear for their lives as other groups actively persecute them merely for their beliefs.

Our complacency makes us believe that religious persecution only exists elsewhere. Such complacency might convince us to give up some of our freedoms just to keep peace in the family. Does this complacency also push us to avoid the demands of our Christian calling?

Look at the Gospel. That enumeration of “blesseds” may seem rather lofty and only for some people. However, in so many ways we have replaced the beauty of Christ’s message, the beauty of the “blessed,” with the ugliness of the condemned. Instead of peace, we create stress; the poor in spirit who realize they need God for everything have been replaced by those who seek everything but God; those who see no light at the end of the tunnel have forgotten that God lights the world and that we can enjoy and share that light. The second reading reminds us that we are God’s children, and, as God’s children, we are likewise brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ in community with one another. Have we replaced that community of belief and fellowship with inactive participation in the fullness of life God has provided?

When I was a student in Rome for four years in the 1960s, to prevent us from becoming total book worms, our superiors required us to go sightseeing on Thursday afternoons. There are over 400 beautiful churches in Rome. Those churches were adorned with many pieces of art and paintings and mosaics depicting Christ with his saints, often portrayed with round halos. Every now and then we would see a person with a square halo, rather than round. Those with the square halo were still alive when the mosaic or painting was done. Was it made square just in case the person did not make it to heaven?

Each of us should be wearing a square halo destined to be refashioned into a round one. God calls each one of us to holiness, a very practical holiness which makes us react differently to the ordinary things of life. Our call to holiness motivates our response to the events of each day. We cannot delay this call to holiness because, as we commemorate on All Souls Day, we do not know when God will call us home. Life puts obligations on us. Holiness puts obligations on us. However, the reward for life well lived in holiness brings a great reward.

The French author Leon Bloy said it this way: “The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint.”

God created us out of love; God continues to love us. God continues to call us closer to him and to one another. The feast of All Saints calls us to fulfill our destiny. Make sure that your current square halo is shiny so that someday it becomes both shiny and round.