20211101 HONOURING THE SAINTS
01 November, 2021, Monday, All Saints
irst 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.’
HONOURING THE SAINTS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [REV 7:2-4,9-14; 1 JOHN 3:1-3; MATT 5:1-12]
Who are the saints? In the first reading, John had a vision. “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.” Indeed, saints are those who have purified themselves by sharing in the passion and death of our Lord. St John in the second reading also wrote, “Surely everyone who entertains this hope must purify himself, must try to be as pure as Christ.” Saints are simply those who have lived out perfectly the life of Christ. They are the mirrors of Christ to us in the way they lived their lives on earth.
Today, the Church rejoices in the victory of the saints in their struggle against sin and death. Indeed, the Church is filled with joy in the knowledge that “a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language” 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!'” It is significant that saints come from all races, nations, languages, social status. The Solemnity of All Saints therefore acknowledges that all can be saints, or rather, all are called to be saints. St John wrote, “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. 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.”
If the Church canonizes some Catholics as saints and there are also many unknown saints as the scriptures tell us, it is in order that the Church can provide models, exemplars of how we are called to sainthood following the path, the charisms and the circumstances we are in. No saint is alike. Every saint has his or her own strength, virtues, vocation, temperament and character. Some are eloquent like St Anthony, some are great intellectuals like St Thomas Aquinas, some are childlike like St Theresa of the Child Jesus, some are missionary- minded like St Francis Xavier, some lived a life of poverty and service to the poor like St Francis of Assisi, some were of noble class like St Louis and St Elizabeth of Hungary, some were Popes, like Gregory the Great, John Paul II. So being a saint does not mean imitating their character, rather their lifestyles and virtues.
Indeed, what they all have in common is that they all loved Christ and sought to imitate Christ in their way of life. All Christian virtues are summed up in Christ. In the Beatitudes, Jesus provided the blueprint for holiness of life. In truth, none of us can live out all these beatitudes perfectly. We might be strong in one or the other but not all. But surely the One who taught us all these would have summed up in Himself, and that person of course is our Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever the Lord teaches in the gospel, He teaches with authority because unlike the scribes and pharisees, the Lord advised us, “do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.” (Mt 23:3)
Truly, when we honour the saints, in no way do we, as some Protestants accuse us, take away the honour reserved for Christ. All of us are only imitators of our Lord. He is the only teacher and master. (Mt 23:8-10) But we need concrete examples of Christians in our times who could show us how we can imitate Christ according to the peculiar circumstances in our lives. Even the world honours people who are achievers or have contributed much to the community, to their organizations or to the country. Why do we honour them if not to showcase them as models others can emulate in giving themselves to service and excellence in work?
This also explains why the commemoration of saints is inserted into the liturgical calendar and the Eucharistic prayer. This will help us to learn from the different saints how they lived their life in service to the poor, or for the spread of the gospel, or simply lived out their vocation as parents, homemakers or giving themselves to community service by working for the government or charitable organizations. Regardless of their unique virtues and gifts, all of them in their own ways participated in Christ’s passion, death and resurrection. It is for this reason, in a special way, the saints are inserted into the liturgy of the Church, especially in the celebration of the Eucharist.
Consequently, the Church, with regard to popular piety to the saints, has always reminded us that devotion to the saints must lead us to a true appreciation of the Eucharist, which in turn lead us to live the life of Christ in imitation of the saints. Devotion to the saints must flow back into the liturgy and then flow out of the liturgy. Any devotion of the saints detached from giving central honour to Christ would be a deficient devotion and a distraction rather than an aid to come to know, love and serve Christ. So we must not disregard or despise devotions to the saints as if they are irrelevant to our life of faith. They are important to us as the letter of Hebrews exhorts us, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb 12:1f)
However, honouring the saints is not confined to merely seeing them as models but it gives us encouragement that we all belong to the communion of saints. This means that even after death, we are not cut off from our loved ones who are still on earth or with Jesus in heaven. St Paul wrote, “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.” (Rom 14:8f) The Solemnity of All Saints should therefore give us a certain hope about our future, knowing that death will not separate us from our loved ones and that we are always in communion with each other.
Furthermore, we are assured of the support of the Saints who continue to intercede for us. There is no reason why we cannot ask the saints to pray and intercede for us. If Christ, as the letter of Hebrews tells us, “is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them”, the saints in heaven too can intercede for us as well to Jesus. Saints, like the angels, can offer prayers on our behalf. “Another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; he was given a great quantity of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne.” (Rev 8:3) Knowing that we are not alone in this journey, helps us to struggle with confidence knowing that we will eventually arrive in heaven to reunite with our departed brothers and sisters.
Indeed, to be a saint is to live in union with God, deeply in love with Christ and to belong to the great family of God. We must use our resources to help each other to become saints. This is our common destiny. Surely in a race, we do not want any of our team members to be left behind. So too when we are conscious that we are one family of God, we must encourage one another and help each other to be a saint. Of course, in the final analysis being a saint is not all about our efforts, but truly holiness whilst requiring discipline, is above all a gift of God and the work of God in us. So, let us remain united with God in prayer and with the prayers of all the saints. Let us honour the saints not because they need our honour, since they are already complete in Christ. But we honour them so that we can become more and more like them. We fall in love with those whom we admire and respect. We too will want to acquire the same virtues and qualities that the person has. Let us make the saints our special friends and companions. Cultivate a love for them so that they can inspire us.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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