20201101 BECOMING WHO WE ARE
01 November, 2020, Sunday, All Saints
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: White.
First reading |
Apocalypse 7:2-4,9-14 © |
I saw a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language
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.’
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 23(24):1-6 © |
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.
Second reading | 1 John 3:1-3 © |
We shall be like God because we shall see him as he really is
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.
Gospel Acclamation | Mt11:28 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened
and I will give you rest, says the Lord.
Alleluia!
Gospel | Matthew 5:1-12a © |
How happy are the poor in spirit
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.’
BECOMING WHO WE ARE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [APOCALYPSE 7:2-4,9-14; 1 JN 3:1-3; MATT 5:1-12 ]
There is so much angst in the world today because humanity has lost its direction. Abandoning faith in God, humanity is left to itself to decide the course it should take. But humanity cannot explain itself. Humanity cannot provide answers to the question of its origin or that of creation. This is why the world is in despair. We do not know our origin, nor our identity, or our destiny. We are confused even with our gender and basic foundational realities of life, marriage and family. In spite of growing affluence, advancement in technology and science, in medicine and increase in lifespan, human beings find this life meaningless. It is reduced to working hard, making money so that one can enjoy the pleasure of life. But there is no real future for the achievements and wealth they accumulate. All their hard work will go to waste because they do not last and upon death everything has to be left behind, including beautiful relationships made. Death is the end of everything. Life without God makes this life meaningless and directionless.
The Church celebrates the Feast of All Saints to ground our hope in a life beyond this earth. This feast reminds us that our destiny is with God. Our life does not end in death but continues to eternity. We will join the saints in heaven praising God. We will be numbered among the “huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language … dressed in white robes and holding palms” in our hands, prostrating, worshipping God, praising and thanking Him. Indeed, this call to share in the joy of the countless saints is given to us all. We might not be officially canonized by the Church but there are countless saints who have already attained their goal and destiny in heaven.
But this hope must begin with the realization of who we are already. We must know our origin and identity before we can arrive at our final destiny. If we do not even know who we are, how can we ever arrive, since life has no goal or destiny. St John tells us, “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.” This is such a wonderful truth which we must cling on to, namely, that we come from the Father. Without God’s graciousness, there would not be any human beings or creation. His love is so great that He called us to be His children. We are not only called by name as His children but in fact we are!
In other words, as His children, we are called to share in His life and love. This explains why our Faith tells us that we are distinguished from other animals and creation. Man is the summit of creation. The psalmist says, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet.” (Ps 8:3-6) He is created in the image and likeness of God (Gn 1:27) and shares in the authority of God to rule over all of creation. (Gn 1:26) Such is the greatness and dignity of man.
But the recognition of this dignity, privilege and accompanying responsibilities presupposes that we know that God is our Father. The world does not know God and so does not know their origin, identity and destiny. They cannot explain their existence. This was why St John remarked, “Because the world refused to acknowledge him, therefore it does not acknowledge us.” If the world is confused and lost about their origin, identity and future, it is because they do not acknowledge God as their creator and their Father.
But we can arrive at our sonship only through faith in Christ. He reveals to us His Father and who we are and the purpose of life. Vatican II says, “Christ the Lord. Christ, the final Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear. It is not surprising, then, that in Him all the aforementioned truths find their root and attain their crown. Such is the mystery of man, and it is a great one, as seen by believers in the light of Christian revelation. Through Christ and in Christ, the riddles of sorrow and death grow meaningful. Apart from His Gospel, they overwhelm us. Christ has risen, destroying death by His death; He has lavished life upon us so that, as sons in the Son, we can cry out in the Spirit; Abba, Father.” (Gaudium et spes, 22)
Once we know our origin and our identity, the next step is to live out our identity and calling. Like new-born babies, life has just begun. A baby must gradually grow up and mature in wisdom and love. Otherwise, he cannot realize what he is called to be. As St Paul says, all of us must “come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.” (Eph 4:13) St Peter in a similar vein wrote, “be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble.” (2 Pt 1:10) Receiving a physical birth and a spiritual rebirth without growing and developing to the full maturity that the Lord has intended for us would be considered a premature death and spiritual death as well in the fullest sense of the term, that is, growing in faith, love, wisdom and understanding and in virtues.
Indeed, this is our hope as John expressed so beautifully. “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.” St John added, “Surely everyone who entertains this hope must purify himself, must try to be as pure as Christ.” Indeed, we are to conform ourselves into the likeness of Christ. Receiving His Spirit, we will be capable of living the new life of love. Redeemed in Christ we can now live the resurrected life. To be a saint means that we are consecrated and set apart to be the glory of God. A saint is one who radiates the presence of Christ to others by His love and mercy. A saint is one who makes Christ so present in his or her life that people can see God in us. So we are all called to be saints in Christ. He is our exemplar, model and strength. When we live this life of Christ on earth, we will carry this life to the fullest when we arrive in God’s kingdom at the end of our life on earth.
To guide us in this journey, Jesus gave us the beatitudes, the “Be Attitudes”, the blueprint to a blessed life on earth and in heaven. The psalmist reminds us, “‘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. 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.” Indeed, only a life lived in total dependence on God’s providence and His grace, expressed in a life of mercy and compassion, a life of justice and truth, a life of holiness and fidelity to the gospel, and witnessing for Christ can lead us to true peace in heaven. For we read, that those who “dressed in white robes are the people who have been through the great persecution, and they have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb.” This journey to sainthood is a process that we begin now and arrive at the end.
We must therefore contemplate on the beatitudes because it is a summary of the Sermon of the Mount and the entire teaching of Christ. We must pay attention to the Word of God as Jesus warned us at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock.” (Mt 7:24f) Indeed, let us walk in truth and love, in holiness and grace as we make our journey to heaven. However, we must never walk alone but with the communion of saints, in heaven, on earth and in purgatory.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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