Let us take the second Reading as the starting point for our reflections on this Feast of all Saints. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus makes this promise: "Blessed are the pure of heart, for they shall see God". In his Letter, John first speaks of God's love for us and how that will love bring us to see God as he is. John echoes the promise of the Beatitude but underscores the fact that the promise gives us hope. Hope in turn demands that we cooperate with God, for every gift is a task, something we have to accomplish with God's grace. Hence John points to our obligation to make ourselves pure in order to obtain the promise of seeing God which is the content of our hope. The beatitude goes from the fact of being pure in heart to the promise of seeing God, whereas John goes from the promise of seeing God to the obligation of being pure of heart.

The Apocalypse speaks of "the servants of our God" who have purified themselves ("washed their robes") in the blood of the Lamb. Jesus purifies our hearts with his precious blood and makes us true servants of God.