Edited

All Souls' Day Nov 2
First reading                                        Wisdom 3:1-9
The souls of the virtuous are in the hands of God, no torment shall ever touch them. In the eyes of the unwise, they did appear to die, their going looked like a disaster, their leaving us, like annihilation; but they are in peace. If they experienced punishment as men see it, their hope was rich with immortality; slight was their affliction, great will their blessings be. God has put them to the test and proved them worthy to be with him; he has tested them like gold in a furnace, and accepted them as a holocaust. When the time comes for his visitation they will shine out; as sparks run through the stubble, so will they. They shall judge nations, rule over peoples, and the Lord will be their king for ever. They who trust in him will understand the truth, those who are faithful will live with him in love; for grace and mercy await those he has chosen.
Psalm                                               Psalm 22:1-6
Second reading                               Romans 5:5-11

Hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us. We were still helpless when at his appointed moment Christ died for sinful men. It is not easy to die even for a good man – though of course for someone really worthy, a man might be prepared to die – but what proves that God loves us is that Christ died for us while we were still sinners. Having died to make us righteous, is it likely that he would now fail to save us from God’s anger? When we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, we were still enemies; now that we have been reconciled, surely we may count on being saved by the life of his Son? Not merely because we have been reconciled but because we are filled with joyful trust in God, through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have already gained our reconciliation.

Gospel                                         Matthew 25:31-46

When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Reflection

By Gary T.

Throwback Thursday. Flashback Friday. There’s even a way-back Wednesday.

We love taking that trip down memory lane, especially visually through photos and videos.

That is why in special occasions such as weddings, birthdays, or even despedidas (send-off party), a collage of photos and/or videos will almost always take a cameo may  it be in simple form of a picture frame or scrap book, or in an elaborate slide show or video presentation.

But what about during that last special occasion – the funeral? Are there any flashback presentations too, like those in weddings and birthdays? Probably among celebrities, yes. And they usually come in the form of tributes, sometimes even taking an hour of TV air time.

But what about beyond funerals? I mean, have you ever thought what if there is a “This is Your Life” video presentation in heaven on judgment day? Will you be proud of what will be shown on the heavenly media player. I know there are many things I will not be proud of if a CCTV video of me will be shown in heaven. In fact I will be very ashamed and humiliated, I would wish they would be edited.

Today’s gospel tells us that there is a “This is Your Life” presentation on judgment day. Maybe not the same as how I visualized it in this article but there is, i.e.., the footage of us doing things to the least of our brethren.

When the Great Director says “Cut!” and stops production, how would our video look like? Should we be worried about bad scenes? Will there be scandals?

Good news: the Great Editor already fought hard to cut those unwanted takes. In fact He paid a great price just to edit our flaws from the past. Now it’s just up to us to improve our future performance following His script(ures).

Prayer

Thank you Jesus for Your great sacrifice just to cut the unwanted sins/scenes in our lives. May we be able to follow correctly the script You have written for us in preparation for bigger roles in heaven. Amen.