20241101 THE BLESSED ONES
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.’
01 November 2024, Friday, All Saints
THE BLESSED ONES
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [REV 7:2-4,9-14; 1 JOHN 3:1-3; MATTHEW 5:1-12]
Today we celebrate the Feast of All Saints. When someone is called a saint, we use the word “Blessed” before his or her name. So we call the mother of Christ, “Blessed Virgin Mary.” Indeed, a saint is one who is blessed by God. Sainthood is primarily a gift from God and not something that we can earn for ourselves. If we can work for sainthood, then we cannot call ourselves “blessed” because we have paid for it by our sacrifice and hard work. Sainthood is therefore, first and foremost, a gift from God. This is what St John wrote in today’s second reading. “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.” If we have forgotten that we are already blessed in Christ, it is because we do not know Him.
Indeed, St Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” (Eph 1:3-6) This is our calling right from the outset. Such is the goodness of God, to have chosen us just as He had chosen Mary, the apostles and the saints of God. We are destined to be His sons and daughters. What greater blessedness can one have than to share in His life and love; and be known as His children? This is even greater than to be a King, a Prime Minister, a CEO or even a Pope or a Cardinal. This is why it is instructive that as Cardinals, we are called by our Baptism name before our title. Being baptized in Christ is the beginning of living out our blessed life.
This is where the challenge is. Indeed, we are blessed, but being blessed is not something that is ours without our cooperation. This is what St John said, “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 other words, we are called to live up to our dignity as saints of God. If we believe that we are truly children of God, then we must live as such. Otherwise, we are disowning the gift that God has given to us. We are rejecting our identity as children of God. To be blessed, we must live a life that is blessed.
How, then, can we retain this blessed life? The gospel gives us the blueprint of what it means to be a blessed person. The beatitudes provide us the guidelines for how one can preserve his or her blessedness. The Lord tells us that if we want to be happy in life, then we need to be poor in spirit. In other words, we must live our life in such a way that we are receptive to the blessings of God. To be poor in spirit means to realize our dependence on Him alone; and when we receive the blessings from Him, we are grateful for them. The psalmist says, “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.”
Secondly, a blessed man is one who is gentle with himself and with others. Gentleness is to be kind towards ourselves and towards others. If we are kind and have a good heart, we will always have happiness. We will also have good friends who care for us. When we do not think evil of others, and are gentle with them, even when they are wrong or when they make mistakes, we make ourselves likable and easy to live with because we are not demanding. We are patient with others and with ourselves. Life lived in this way has much less tension.
Thirdly, a blessed man is one knows how to mourn. Mourning is an important aspect of growing in gentleness and compassion. Unless we are conscious of our own pain, trials and sufferings, especially of injustices that come from innocent suffering, we will not be able to empathize with the sufferings of others. But when we have gone through the struggles of life ourselves, when we have gone through the mourning of our sins and loss of our loved ones and our security, then we are able to comfort others as well. In comforting those who are in our situation, we find meaning and purpose because we know that we have not suffered in vain. God has used our sufferings not just to purify us in love but to use us to inspire and help others who suffer. As St Paul wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all consolation, who consoles us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to console those who are in any affliction with the consolation with which we ourselves are consoled by God.” (2 Cor 1:3f)
Fourthly, a blessed man is one who hungers and thirsts for what is right. We are blessed indeed when we seek to live a life of integrity, honesty and truthfulness. When our conscience is at peace, we are at peace ourselves. As 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.” Peace of mind and heart is ours only when we do what is right. Greater joy is ours when we also desire this peace which we have for others. This is why we are called to promote justice and righteousness in the world so that we all can live in harmony. A blessed man is truly a peacemaker, as the Lord tells us. “Happy the peacemakers: they shall be called sons of God.” The only way to preserve our peace is to help others to live in peace, in truth and in charity.
Fifthly, a blessed man is one who is merciful. There is a joy that no amount of money can buy, namely, mercy. When we are merciful, it means that we can identify with the sufferings of others, their weaknesses and their sinfulness. We will no longer condemn them for their ignorance and insecurity which have caused them to sin. We will, like our Lord, find excuses for them, and instead of being vindictive or reactive or judgmental, we feel sorry for them, just like how our Lord felt sorry for His enemies. On the hill of Jerusalem, the Lord said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Lk 13:34) When He was on the cross and when His own people rejected Him, He said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34) To the repentant thief, He said, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Lk 23:43) Mercy and compassion expressed in forgiveness is the hallmark of being truly blessed because this is what the Lord taught us. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.'” (Mt 5:43-45)
Finally, to live this blessed life, we need to be constantly purified by our enemies, persecutors and through the trials of life. The Lord said, “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.'” Indeed, we are called to be like the early Christians who were called to wash their white garments with the blood of Christ. Only then are we ready to stand and be counted among the countless number of saints who suffered for Christ. Then, together with them, “standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms” in our hands, we too can shout aloud, “Victory to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Indeed, this blessed life is already given to us at our baptism. We need to preserve the wedding garment by keeping ourselves free from sin and evil. We must continue to live like Christ who has shown us the way to a blessed life, both by His teaching and by His way of life. We must seek to follow Him.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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