All Saints, Sunday, November 1, 2026

There’s a Catholic evangelist and social media influencer named Paul Kim who recently lost his five-year-old son, Micah. Trusting that his little boy is in Heaven, Paul began asking for Micah’s intercession. And one story he shared really moved me.

About a month after Micah passed, a mother lost her eight-year-old daughter. Some friends arranged for Paul to speak with this mother, and he shared with her about Micah and the things that had given him hope, although, of course, that couldn’t take away her grief.

So, after their conversation, Paul asked Micah to pray for this grieving family. Paul also asked Micah to find this mother’s little girl in heaven, saying that maybe they could play together, and Micah could show her around. And then Paul asked Micah if he and that woman’s daughter would visit her family on earth.

About a month later, the mother sent Paul a message. She had been putting her six-year-old son to bed when her son asked, “Mom, can you show me pictures of Micah?”

She was puzzled. She had never told him about Micah, never shown him pictures, and never mentioned that she had spoken with Micah’s father.

So she asked whether he meant a boy named Micah at his school.

“No,” he said. “The Micah in heaven.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

And he said, “I had a dream the other night of my sister, and she’s friends with Micah in heaven, and they’re sitting with Jesus.”

…My point in sharing this story is to remind us that heaven is real, and that everyone in heaven is a saint who can intercede for us. That includes those who have never been officially canonized. Today, on All Saints Day, we celebrate all of them.

…In our first reading, Saint John sees what he describes as a great multitude in heaven that no one could count. I think that image should comfort all of us. And, in today’s gospel, Jesus says, “Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.”

That grieving mother was truly comforted by God. And I pray to God that all those who grieve a loved one may be comforted by God in someway.

…To hopefully add to this comfort that Jesus promises, I want to share about an interaction Pope Francis had when he was comforting a little boy who was grieving the loss of his father. In the midst of tears, the little boy asked the Pope whether his recently deceased father, who was an atheist, was in Heaven. The boy explained that his father was a good father who had all four of his children baptized.

…Pope Francis responded by reminding the boy that God decides who enters heaven. But he also reminded him that God has the heart of a father. Pope Francis said God must have been very pleased with his father because it is more difficult to have your children baptized when you do not believe yourself.

And then he told the boy: “Speak with your father, pray to your father.”

We don’t know every movement of God’s grace in that father’s heart, especially in those final moments of his life. We may know about someone’s sins without knowing about their repentance. But God does. And that gives us reason to hope and to entrust those we love to His mercy.

…Heaven is real and, because of God’s great mercy, we have a real and tremendous hope of heaven. But we must trust in God and his mercy. We must pray for his grace to obey his commands and seek his forgiveness and sincerely repent when we fall short. And we must learn to accept His forgiveness, even when we struggle to forgive ourselves.

God’s Mercy is forever for those who place their trust in Him, and all the saints in heaven praise him for that great mercy.