ALL SAINTS' DAY

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14

 I saw another angel ascending from the sunrise,

Carrying the seal of the living God, and he cried out with a loud voice to the four angels empowered to harm the earth and the sea, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God upon their foreheads.”

Then I heard the number of those marked with the seal: a hundred and forty-four thou­­sand from all the tribes of the people of Israel: 

 After this I saw a great crowd, impossible to count, from every nation, race, people and tongue, standing before the throne and the Lamb, clothed in white, with palm branches in their hands, and they cried out with a loud voice, “Who saves but our God who sits on the throne and the Lamb?”

All the angels were around the throne, the elders and the four liv­ing creatures; they then bowed before the throne with their faces to the ground to wor­ship God. They said, Amen. Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power and strength to our God forever and ever.

Amen! At that moment, one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these people clothed in white, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, it is you who know this.” The elder replied, “They are those who have come out of the great persecution; they have washed and made their clothes white in the blood of the Lamb.

 

Ps 24:1b-2, 3-4ab, 5-6

Lord this is the people that longs to see your face.

 

＊＊＊ 2nd Reading ＊＊＊

1John 3:1-3

See what singular love the Father has for us: we are called children of God, and we really are. This is why the world does not know us, because it did not know him.

 Beloved, we are God’s children and what we shall be has not yet been shown. Yet when he appears in his glory, we know that we shall be like him, for then we shall see him as he is. All who have such a hope try to be pure as he is pure.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Matthew 5:1-12a

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain. He sat down and his disciples gathered around him.   Then he spoke and began to teach them:

Fortunate are those who are poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Fortunate are those who mourn, they shall be comforted.

 Fortunate are the gentle, they shall pos­sess the land.

 Fortunate are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied.

 Fortunate are the merciful, for they shall find mercy.

 Fortunate are those with a pure heart, for they shall see God.

Fortunate are those who work for peace, they shall be called children of God.

 Fortunate are those who are persecuted for the cause of justice, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Fortunate are you, when people insult you and persecute you and speak all kinds of evil against you because you are my followers.  

Be glad and joyful, for a great reward is kept for you in God. This is how this people persecuted the prophets who lived before you.

 

Gospel Reflection：

Read:

To be blessed is to be like the Lamb of God. The key word for this Sunday is “Blessedness!” Who are the “Blessed Ones?” They are the ones who have been washed by the blood of the Lamb, those who have remained faithful under trial, those who mirrored the face of the One true Blessed, Jesus Christ. The Palm branch is a great symbol of martyrs – witnesses – who, like Christ, have offered their lives for truth, justice, charity, and peace.

Reflect:

The Catholic Church celebrates a great Solemnity on this day as she recognizes the “144,000”- the symbolic number (12*12*1000or simply “a great multitude)of the saved from all nations and from all generations.

Among these multitude of Saints are not only the “canonized” but also the many more anonymous or unknowns saints, even from our own families! All who strive to live the Beatitudes set by Christ in the Gospel are on the way to becoming “Blessed!”

Pray:

Each of us is called to be counted among the “Blessed.”St. Therese of Lisieux, our modern day Saint, challenges us to desire to become Saints, for only by being Saints can we be counted amongst the Saved!

Act:

Today is a good day to light a candle and pray, not only for the eternal rest of our dearly departed, but also to pray to them to intercede for us should they already be amongst the many Saints in heaven.