Ordinary Time · All Saints · Year A

1 John 3:1-3

Children of God

November 1, 2026

Christ in Majesty with Angels, Spanish illuminator — **Christ in Majesty with Angels**, Spanish illuminator, about 1180The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Roman Lectionary

GospelMatt. 5:1-12aMt 5:1-12a

Second Reading1 John 3:1-31 Jn 3:1-3

First ReadingRev. 7:2-4, 9-14Rev 7:2-4, 9-14

Responsorial PsalmPs. 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 (cf. 6)Ps 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 (cf. 6)

Overview & Insights

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” (1 John 3:1)

This section of 1 John is unified by the idea of the children of God: who they are and how one can identify them by their lives. It is a passage dominated by ethics, particularly an ethical concern for righteousness and sin. It compares two “families”: the children of God and the children of the devil. In the background, as always, are the Elder’s opponents, the secessionists, whom he strongly contrasts to his own “dear children.”

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Take it further: 1 John 3:1-3

Commentary

1 John 3: Children of God1 Jn 3: Children of God Enduring Word · David Guzik

David Guzik's verse by verse evangelical commentary on being called children of God.

1 John 3:1 Commentaries1 Jn 3:1 Commentaries BibleHub

Aggregates classic commentaries on the love of the Father and the hope of the children in one place.

Barnes' Notes on 1 John 3Barnes' Notes on 1 Jn 3 StudyLight

Albert Barnes' notes on the whole of 1 John 3.

Commentary on 1 John 3:1-3 (All Saints)Commentary on 1 Jn 3:1-3 (All Saints) Working Preacher

A seminary scholar reads the children of God passage as the All Saints second reading.

The Solemnity of All Saints Catholic Productions · Brant Pitre

Dr. Brant Pitre explains why the church hears we shall be like him on this feast.

Background & Word Study

1 John 3:1 Greek Interlinear1 Jn 3:1 Greek Interlinear BibleHub

Greek word by word with parsing and Strong's numbers for the children of God passage.

The Church Fathers

Catena on 1 John 3Catena on 1 Jn 3 Catena

Patristic comments verse by verse on the love that makes us children of God.

Questions preachers ask

What is our destiny in 1 John 3?

We are already God’s children, and though what we will be is not yet made known, “when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:1–3), the hope All Saints celebrates.

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