November 1 in the United States, is often thought of as the day after Halloween. But for Catholics like us, it is a day of celebration. A feast day for every holy man and woman who now rests in the presence of God. Some of them are famous, with statues and stained-glass windows. Many more are known only to God and to the people whose lives they touched: a grandmother who prayed the rosary every night, a nurse who stayed past her shift, a doctor who never turned away a patient who couldn’t pay.
All Saints Day reminds us that holiness isn’t reserved for a few.
The Church has given us many saints who show what it looks like. St. Luke, the “beloved physician” and patron of doctors, healed bodies and wrote the Gospel that tells so many stories of mercy. St. Gianna Beretta Molla, a pediatrician and mother, balanced medicine, family, and faith, and had dreamed of serving as a medical missionary in Brazil.
We at MDA, think often of Blessed Stanley Rother, an Oklahoma priest who served the Tz’utujil Maya people of Lake Atitlán, Guatemala, and was martyred in 1981. He helped build the original hospital in the community that is now served by Hospitalito, where our own missionaries have and continue to serve. His life reminds us that a mission is built on ordinary acts of love repeated over many years: showing up, staying, and caring for the poor.
We see that same holiness in the missionaries we send. When a surgeon trains a nurse in triage, when a family practice doctor takes on an eye clinic, or when a family moves to a remote village and returns every summer, they are living out the call of the saints. And we see it in you, our donors and friends, whose prayers and generosity make this work possible.
All Saints Day is also a doorway to All Souls Day on November 2, when we pray for our loved ones who have died. If you would like us to remember someone, please submit their name here (https://www.missiondoctors.org/all-souls-day/). Their names will remain on the altar throughout November.
All you holy men and women of God, pray for us.