20191101
CHRISTIAN
HOPE IS THE ANSWER TO HUMANITY’S DESTINY
01 NOVEMBER,
2019, Friday, All Saints
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
White.
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First reading
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Apocalypse 7:2-4,9-14 ©
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I, John, saw another angel rising where
the sun rises, carrying the seal of the living God; he called in a powerful
voice to the four angels whose duty was to devastate land and sea, ‘Wait before
you do any damage on land or at sea or to the trees, until we have put the seal
on the foreheads of the servants of our God.’ Then I heard how many were
sealed: a hundred and forty-four thousand, out of all the tribes of Israel.
After
that I saw a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race,
tribe and language; they were standing in front of the throne and in front of
the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands. They shouted
aloud, ‘Victory to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ And all
the angels who were standing in a circle round the throne, surrounding the
elders and the four animals, prostrated themselves before the throne, and
touched the ground with their foreheads, worshipping God with these words,
‘Amen. Praise and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and
strength to our God for ever and ever. Amen.’
One
of the elders then spoke, and asked me, ‘Do you know who these people are,
dressed in white robes, and where they have come from?’ I answered him, ‘You
can tell me, my lord.’ Then he said, ‘These are the people who have been
through the great persecution, and they have washed their robes white again in
the blood of the Lamb.’
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 23(24):1-6 ©
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Such are the men who
seek your face, O Lord.
The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness,
the world and all its peoples.
It is he who set it on the seas;
on the waters he made it firm.
Such are the men who
seek your face, O Lord.
Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord?
Who shall stand in his holy
place?
The man with clean hands and pure heart,
who desires not worthless
things.
Such are the men who
seek your face, O Lord.
He shall receive blessings from the Lord
and reward from the God who
saves him.
Such are the men who seek him,
seek the face of the God of
Jacob.
Such are the men who
seek your face, O Lord.
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Second reading
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1 John 3:1-3 ©
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Think of the love that the Father has
lavished on us,
by letting us be called God’s
children;
and that is what we are.
Because the world refused to acknowledge
him,
therefore it does not
acknowledge us.
My dear people, we are already the
children of God
but what we are to be in the
future has not yet been revealed;
all we know is, that when it is revealed
we shall be like him
because we shall see him as he
really is.
Surely everyone who entertains this hope
must purify himself, must try
to be as pure as Christ.
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Gospel Acclamation
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Mt11:28
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Come to me, all you who labour and are
overburdened
and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 5:1-12a ©
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Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up the hill.
There he sat down and was joined by his disciples. Then he began to speak. This
is what he taught them:
‘How happy are the poor in spirit;
theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.
Happy the gentle:
they shall have the earth for
their heritage.
Happy those who mourn:
they shall be comforted.
Happy those who hunger and thirst for what
is right:
they shall be satisfied.
Happy the merciful:
they shall have mercy shown
them.
Happy the pure in heart:
they shall see God.
Happy the peacemakers:
they shall be called sons of
God.
Happy those who are persecuted in the
cause of right:
theirs is the kingdom of
heaven.
‘Happy are you when people abuse you and
persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account. Rejoice
and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.’
CHRISTIAN HOPE
IS THE ANSWER TO HUMANITY’S DESTINY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ REV 7:2-4,9-14; 1 JOHN 3:1-3; MATT 5:1-12 ]
How does one live today? Do we just live one day at a time,
not knowing where we are going and what we are called to achieve in this
life? If that were the case, we will just drift on in life without any
clear purpose. Life for us then is to eat, enjoy, sleep and work only
because it is necessary to keep us alive and have our needs provided.
Otherwise, life has no other purpose and meaning. Indeed, we wonder
why we even exist at all. Why should there be this earth in the first
place? Why are there human beings to control this planet? Why are
there animals and plants?
These are fundamental
questions but the world avoids answering them. Instead, through
secularism, it is deceiving humanity into believing that there is nothing
beyond this earth and this life. The world wants humanity to believe that
they are simply constituted of matter and when they die, they will be gone
forever. There is no soul. There is no after-life. This
planet will go on and on. At most, it will be burnt up eventually because
of climate warming, like Mars, which they believe used to be inhabited.
So it is important that we make the most of what we can because once dead, we
will disappear from the face of this world.
There is no
accountability after death. Any accountability is only in this
life. As
long we can enjoy and make the best of this world’s resources, and not get
caught by the law, we can take the risk. And if caught, and we cannot
take the shame and punishment, we can end our life by committing suicide.
There is no reason to worry about tomorrow since there is no tomorrow.
Going by this argument, why do we want to bother about ecology and saving
creation since we will not be here tomorrow? And if life is difficult or
suffering is too immense, we should just end it, since suffering is
meaningless. Once dead, there will be no more suffering. So
we advocate abortion and euthanasia.
To discredit and
ridicule those with thoughts of the continuity of life after death, they make a
mockery of the celebration of Halloween. This used to be a Catholic celebration in
anticipation of the Feast of All Saints and All Souls. That is why
Halloween means the eve of the Holy Saints. But this religious festival
has been hijacked by the world today for commercial gain, by making fun of our
belief in the reality of souls and ghosts. The scientific world wants us
to believe that all this talk about souls and spirits is mythological, meant
for the naive because spirits do not exist. And the greatest lie of all
is that evil spirits do not exist.
But we know the truth in
our hearts. If we were just material beings alone, then food and physical
comfort alone should satisfy us, just
like animals are easily satisfied once they are fed. Yet, we know that
besides physical needs, we have affective, aesthetic and spiritual needs.
Just as there is ecology of creation, there is also ecology of the human
person. His material, physical, emotional, psychological, aesthetic,
intellectual and spiritual needs are interconnected. If we are merely
animals, then food should be sufficient. But no matter how much food and
comfort we have, there is a saturation point. Once reached, our cravings
cease.
However, this is not the
case for our intellectual, affective and spiritual needs. These are
non-material needs.
The mind is always searching for truth and meaning. The heart is always
searching for love and life. The soul is always searching for the
ultimate, for God. We all long for eternity, for everlasting love and
life, for the fullness of truth and love. No one is ever contented with
half-truths and fake love. We all desire to go beyond
ourselves. All of us want to live on forever and ever. Indeed, it
is incomprehensible to deny that we have a soul.
It is in this context
that the Feast of All Saints and the celebration of All Souls give us hope and
direction in life. In
celebrating the Feast of All Saints and remembering the souls of the Faithful
Departed, we are brought to mind the ultimate future of why we are here on this
earth. We are called to share in the life of God by becoming His
children. We belong to the family of God in the communion of
saints. This is what St John says, “Think of the love that the Father has
lavished on us, by letting us be called God’s children; and that is what we
are.” Indeed, heaven is where we are fully immersed in the life and love
of God and when we are in communion with everyone, including our loved ones who
have gone to heaven before us. This is the ultimate destiny of
everyone. This is what Christian Hope is all about.
Our hope is in heaven,
sharing the life of God. This is revealed and confirmed for us in
Christ. By
His death and resurrection, He shows us that death is not the ultimate in life
but only a process to eternal life. By conquering death, which is the
greatest enemy of man and the cause of man’s sins as well, Christ gives us the
certain hope that all we do in this life will not end in death but will
continue into the next life. Indeed, in the first reading, we read of how
Christ’s death has won for us all victory over sin and death. St John’s
vision of the countless number of peoples from all walks of life, “people from
every nation, race, tribe and language … standing in front of the throne and in
front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands” and
shouting “Victory to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” means
that Christ has won salvation for us all as a gift. Indeed, the angel
told John, “These are the people who have been through the great persecution,
and they have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb.”
Life on this earth is
short compared to eternity in the next life. Let us not fool ourselves or
let the propaganda of the Evil One deceive us into thinking that we have only
one life on this earth and that it ends in death. This is because the Evil One does
not want us to enjoy eternal life with God in heaven. He wants us to
perish with him for all eternity in hell. He wants us to destroy
ourselves by indulging in the things of this world without any care for justice
and love. The reason for people to believe in Satan’s words is
because, as St John wrote, “the world refused to acknowledge him, therefore it
does not acknowledge us.” This is precisely why Satan is intent on
spreading secularism in the world today. If he could get us all to believe
that there is no God, no spirit, no afterlife, we will all lose hope in life
hereafter and very soon, life on this earth as well.
Consequently, we must
realize that our actions on this earth have eternal consequences and not as
what Satan claims, only temporal consequences. That is why we must purify ourselves in
love and in truth. St John wrote, “My dear people, we are already the
children of God but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed;
all we know is that when it is revealed we shall be like him because we shall
see him as he really is. Surely everyone who entertains this hope must
purify himself, must try to be as pure as Christ.” In view of what we are
called to become, namely, the sons and daughters of God in Christ, we should
already begin to live our Christian life as sons and daughters of God.
This is what Baptism in fact does for us and requires us to do, living on earth
as God’s children in His family.
Today, we are called to
follow the beatitudes, the blueprint to a blessed life. This is the life of a saint, on earth and
in heaven. Anyone who lives a life of poverty of spirit and trust in God,
expressed in a life of purity, mercy, righteousness and compassion, will
already share in the life of God. The psalmist says, “Who shall climb the
mountain of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place? The man with
clean hands and pure heart, who desires not worthless things.” Indeed,
let us live the blessed gift given to us already in this life by being gentle and
peace-loving. Those who live out the beatitudes are truly the Blessed
Ones of God. The Lord said, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be
great in heaven.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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