20221101 HOLINESS IS ONE, BUT EXPRESSED IN MANIFOLD WAYS
01 November, 2022, Tuesday, All Saints
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.’
HOLINESS IS ONE, BUT EXPRESSED IN MANIFOLD WAYS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [APOCALYPSE 7:2-4, 9-14; 1 JN 3:1-3; MAT 5:1-12]
Today when we celebrate All Saints Day, we rejoice with all the saints, known and unknown in heaven. We rejoice in their victory over sin and the Evil One. Indeed, they are the ones that St John wrote about in the first reading. They are the perfect and countless number of Christians representing the 12 tribes of Israel, the new People of God who have been sealed as the “servants” of God. They also belong to that “huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language.” Indeed, now “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!'”
What we are celebrating now is what we are all called to be as well. We too are included in that number in principle. This is what 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.” To be a saint is to be a son and daughter of God. By virtue of our baptism, we are all made children of God. At our baptism, we are consciously informed and anointed as children of God. All of humanity are children of God as well, but because they do not know Christ, they remain unaware of their calling to be adopted sons and daughters in Christ. This is what St John said, “Because the world refused to acknowledge him, therefore it does not acknowledge us.”
Consequently, to be a saint is to become a true child of God. We are called to share in the sonship of Christ. The blueprint to becoming a child of God is given to us by Christ Himself in the beatitudes. In these beatitudes, we are invited to live a blessed life. Hence, the beginning of each of the beatitude begins with the word, “blessed!” This is the kind of life that Jesus Himself lived, including Mary and all the saints. The beatitudes could be considered as the principles of Christian living.
The apex of all the principles is to have a poverty of Spirit, that is, a total dependence on God for all that we are and all that we do. But we are also called to be gentle, that is, meek, firm and yet diplomatic in our pursuit of the truth. Meekness does not mean weakness. Jesus and Moses were described as meek but they were certainly not weak leaders. Meekness means to be in control of our strength. A leader who does not know how to control his strength can over react in situations. We seek to be peacemakers and reconcilers, not people who divide. But what distinguishes us from others is that we remain aware of our own sinfulness and mourn for our sins and imperfections in life so that we will never become judgmental and harsh towards others. A child of God is one who always lives in the truth, seeking justice for all; and yet remains merciful to those who fail in life. Justice and compassion must always go together.
To ensure that we are walking in the right direction, what is of utmost importance is the purity of heart and the willingness to suffer for what is right. The psalmist asks, “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.” St John says the same thing, “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.” We need to be purified in our service of God and love for our fellowmen. The persecution, trials and suffering that come along the way are means by which we are purified. We must not take the oppositions we face in life as if we are innocent and the victims all the time. More often than not, we are reacting from our pride and selfishness, even when apparently serving God and His people. So through all the challenges of life, we learn to grow in purity of heart and mind so that we can truly serve God and His people with a love that is sincere, pure and generous.
However, these principles offered by the Lord need to be applied concretely in our situation. Holiness is one and the same for all. But there are manifold ways to live out that holiness in our lives. There are many kinds of saints. That is why the Church honours the different kinds of saints who are known to live the life of Christ according to their charisms, temperaments and situations in life. To be a saint does not mean to replicate any particular saint. Rather, it is to imitate their virtues and how they live out the Christian beatitudes according to their circumstances in life. For this reason, the Church continually canonizes modern saints for today’s generation as our lives are very different from that of the saints who lived in their times.
Being a saint therefore simply means to live out the life of Christ according to our vocation. We become holy not by withdrawing from the world and our responsibilities. We become holy through living out our vocation in life, whether as a spouse, parent, son or daughter, a student, a worker, a professional or a priest. We must never think that only those who are priests and religious have a greater chance to become saints. Holiness is not determined by what vocation we have in life but how faithful we are to our calling. Even in priestly and religious life, there are many temptations. We have seen many priests and religious who are not living out their vocation but make use of their vocation to look after their own interests rather than the Church’s interests. But this is true in any vocation. As parents, are we responsible for the way we raise up our children and give ourselves to forming them to be sons and daughters of God in Christ? For those of us who are married, have we been responsible to our spouse and live out the marriage vows we took on our wedding day? As workers and professionals, have we made an honest living and shown ourselves to be exemplary workers, dedicated to our work, responsible in our tasks, and proactive in all that we do?
Holiness therefore is to become who we are, namely as children of God. We grow in holiness by giving ourselves fully to what we are called to life. If we are faithful to our vocation and our state of life, we become holy. In every vocation and state of life, we will be confronted with the same principles that Christ gives us in the beatitudes. We will be called to exercise humility, justice, compassion, mercy and to be mediators of peace in the midst of conflicts. By exercising these principles in decision-making, we grow in grace and holiness. Hence holiness is the common call for all but how we live out this holiness concretely in our life is dependent on what we are called to do. If we are faithful to our calling and act according to the beatitudes, we become holy. We can be just an ordinary worker, a homemaker or just a domestic helper but if we take our vocation seriously and live it out for the greater glory of God and service of our fellowmen, we can become great saints.
Yet in the final analysis, holiness is not mere effort alone. We must remember that to be a Christian is to share in the victory of Christ that He has won for us. St John wrote, “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.” In other words, holiness is also grace. Inspired by the Lord, we need to turn to Him for strength and the capacity to share in His death and resurrection. Only through the love of Christ and in the power of His Spirit can we imitate Him both in life and in death. “Praise and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and strength to our God for ever and ever. Amen.”
So if we truly want to grow in holiness, let us see the face of God. The psalmist tells us, “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.” Holiness is not reducible to ethical living. It is to allow Christ to live in us through His Spirit. So without a deep prayer life, without constant contemplation of His face in the scriptures and receiving His Spirit in Holy Communion, we would deprive ourselves of the means to grow in holiness. That is why St John Paul II urges us to train ourselves in holiness through the Word of God, prayer, the Eucharist and the Sacrament of reconciliation.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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