1st
Reading: Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14
Vast numbers were
sealed with the sign of the Living God
I saw another angel
ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he
called with a loud voice to the four
angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea, saying, " Do not
damage the earth or the sea or the tree,
until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their
foreheads." And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred
forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel.
After this I looked,
and there was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, from
all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the
Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a
loud voice, saying, salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb!"And all the angels stood around the throne and around the
elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the
throne and worshiped God, singing, " Amen! Blessing and glory and
wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and
power and might be to our God forever, and ever, Amen." Then one of the
elders addressed me, saying, " who are these, robed in white, and where
have they come from?" I said to him, " Sir you are the one that
knows." Then he said to me , " These are they who have come out of
the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood
of the Lamb.
2nd
Reading: 1John 3:1-3
The love the Father has
given us, that we should be called
children of God.
See what love the
Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what
we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed.
What we do not know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we
will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves,
just as he is pure.
Gospel:
Matthew 5:1-12
The Beatitudes as guide
to the Kingdom of Heaven
When Jesus saw the
crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to
him. Then he began to speak, and taught them saying:
" Blessed are the
poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. " Blessed are those
who mourn, for they will be comforted. " Blessed are the meek, for they
will inherit the earth." Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness, for they will be filled. " Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God. " Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be
called children of God. " Blessed are those who are persecuted for
righteousness' sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when
people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you
falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven,
for in the same way they persecuted the
prophets who were before you.
REFLECTIONS
AND MEDITATIONS ON THE READINGS
"
OUR CALL TO LIVE THE GOOD LIFE"
There is a little story
of a chronic gambler who said: " I would do anything, even the devils
work, to see the lotto winning numbers ahead of the draw. I would become the
richest man in the world." Well he got his wish. A messenger came to his
door and handed him a news paper dated one week ahead. Excited, the man turned
to the page where the winning numbers were listed. There before his eyes were
all the numbers that would entitle him to win millions of dollars.
He was beside himself
imagining what he would do with all the huge amount of money. But as he turned
the pages his heart skipped a beat. For there he saw his name printed in big,
bold print- in the obituary! On the day he wins, he will also die.
This story teaches us
that in spite of all the joys, pleasures, and yes, millions we may acquire-
legally or otherwise- death hangs over our head like the proverbial sword of
Damocles. The meditation question in this story is that, are we prepared for
that inevitable end?
Today is November 1 and
we remember our departed loved ones. But let us ask ourselves, " What will
happen to me when I die? What is it like on the other side?"
In the book , Saints Alive, says that if we are going
to make a list of all saints and Blesseds we would probably note that:
1. A very large
percentage of the formally beatified and canonized saints belonged to religious
orders.
2. A very large number
have been bishops.
3. There have been more
men than women.
4. Lay saints among the
non- martyrs have been relatively few.
Some explanation can be
offered for these percentages are the following:
1. Religious orders
interested in promoting the canonization of their own communities the means and
natural agency to broadcast knowledge of their holy ones and stimulate devotion
to them; and canonization requires an organized campaign.
2. Bishops are leaders
and as such are usually better known that even their holiest priests
3. Women saints are
normally nuns, honored, of course within convent walls, but not widely known
outside them. Publicizing their virtues is thus a preliminary necessity(
Witness St. Therese of Lisieux, for example.) But men are more likely to have
faced the public and won recognition by public good deeds.
4.Lay saints have been
less frequently beatified or canonized simply because, unless they are martyrs,
they are less known than nuns, than men, than bishops, than members of
religious orders.
That is why, today's
celebration is focused on all the saints of Heaven, but especially on those we
could call the little people of Heaven: those obscure, un -canonized, un-
beatified, uncelebrated and anonymous saint whose names are not found in the
liturgical calendar of the Church. These saints could be your deceased,
grandparents, parents, husbands, and wives, uncles and aunts, your teachers and
other professionals, friends, children, brothers and sisters, nephews, nieces,
cousins and so on and so forth. They did nothing extraordinary but they knew
how to love and be good.
The
beatitudes
Today's gospel is about
the Beatitudes. The word beatitude is coming from the Latin word beati
meaning the happy ones' or ' the one
being blessed.' These Beatitudes are ways by which we become channels of good
news of Christ to other people. These are the ideals by which the saints
approximated their closeness to God's expectations. In our world today, each
country has got constitutions to rely on. You will hear people saying that
" we want changes, we want to amend our constitution to live a good
life....etc". In our today's gospel the eight beatitudes outline the
virtues, the Constitution of the Kingdom of God that makes us true Disciples of
Christ. These beatitudes are in opposite with the values promoted by the world
as follows.
The world around us
says,' Blessed are the rich, because they
can have anything they want.' But Jesus says, ' Blessed are the poor in
spirit.' By ' poor in spirit' he means those who put their trust in God rather
than money; and those who admit that it is not their income, possessions or
bank account that makes them rich in the eyes of God, but what kind of people
they are.
The world says,'Blessed are the assertive and aggressive
that talk tough and act tough.' But Jesus says, ' Blessed are the gentle.'
Gentleness is not weakness, but a form of strength. St. Francis de sales used
to say that you can catch more flies with a spoon full of sugar than a barrel
full of vinegar. In Jesus 'book there's just no place for bullies and bullying.
The world says, ' Blessed are those who show no mercy and who
take no prisoners.' But Jesus says,'
Blessed are the merciful,' Happy are those who make allowances for the faults
and sins of others, and whose greatness lies in their ability to forgive. They
will receive mercy and forgiveness from God for their own sins.
The world says, ' Blessed are those who get even and exact
revenge.' But Jesus says, ' Blessed are those who make a stand for what is
right and true.' They may suffer for their stand, but the wounds they bear will
be marks of honor and integrity. Jesus practiced what he preached. In his own
person he was the beatitude. Peace is really founded on love, justice and
truth. When one of these human values is violated peace is not attained.
In the eight beatitude
we are told from the gospel that blessed are those who suffer. In this
perspective, a suffering born of love and commitment is a suffering which is
truly united with the suffering of the crucified Christ.
Saint
hood starts now
The celebration of the
Solemnity of All saints is not only a celebration of those saints declared and
not declared but also for all of us who are and must be in the process of
becoming saints. That's why to be a true disciple or to be a saint is summed in
the beatitudes. These beatitudes are not impossible to follow because the
saints have shown us how. One saint said a long time ago: " If they can do
it, why can't I?"
When we celebrate the
feast of all saints we are not celebrating those who have died. This way of
thinking causes us to believe that sanctity can only happen after a person has
died. No, we are celebrating all who have experienced the gospel message and
know that God dwells with them now. Strictly speaking, death is not the
criterion required for sanctity. Neither is perfection. Often, in fact, the
road to wholeness/ holiness is through imperfection.
Sanctity is not
something we achieve. It is something with which we participate. It is much too
big, as is sin and death, for us to experience alone. As we participate in sin
and death, so too can we participate in holiness and life. We each have within
us at this moment the power of God. The only thing that prevents us from living
the power of God is that many of us are not aware that we have it. We are all
children of God, not later when we die, but now this moment.
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