Glorifying Jesus in the Saints

Solemnity of All the Saints

November 1, 2015

First reading
Apocalypse 7:2-4,9-14 ©

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.’

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Psalm	Psalm 23:1-6 ©

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.

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Second reading	1 John 3:1-3 ©

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.

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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!

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Gospel	Matthew 5:1-12 ©

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.’

Reflection

By Edgardo Tulabut

I was to hail a bus in Cavite on my way to my home province of Pampanga when I decided to drop by a DVD sale. This was the All Saints’ Day break many years ago and I extended my vacation leave to a whole week. Although I know it will only be what it is called now as “staycation” because I was only using up my unused leaves and I just wanted to rest. Therefore, there might be some time for a DVD or two; or maybe a movie marathon. As I was busy browsing through the titles, the sales lady offered me their special “horror” packages.

I told her, “Are you kidding me? Every channel on TV is screening horror films nowadays and you offer me horror films?” Of course we are already “suki” that’s why I can say those things to her directly.

Yes, everything on TV was horrifying, glorifying the dark side instead of what the occasion is supposed to be.

There are several write ups one can read on the origins of Halloween, may it be it is Christian origin, Celtic, pagan, or something else…. And I am not going to discuss them here. What I know is that as far as Christians are concerned, Halloween is supposed to be the eve of All Hallows’ Day or All Saints’ Day—The Feast of All Saints.

We should be celebrating the lives of saints and how they can lead us to lives pleasing to God;  not giving glory to the prince of darkness through horror films, trick or treat, and monstrous outfits.

Though little by little, many groups are now doing things differently to counter the western Halloween celebrations. One of them is the Holy Rosary Parish in Angeles City where every year they sponsor a parade for children dressed up as their favorite saints. I know there are also many organizations advocating this. I hope there will be more.

Today’s second reading says “The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.”

Let us tell the world about Jesus. Let us tell the world that we do not glorifying the evil one. A simple denouncing  of the distorted image/celebration of Halloween can be a good start. I know it may be hard, especially for those with kids. But for sure there will be ways.

Or maybe a simple social media greeting of “HAPPY FEAST of ALL SAINTS” will do for now. This is for everyone to know that before the western influence, before commercialization, and before this becoming a social activity and a family reunion, it was first of all a CATHOLIC CHRISTIAN celebration of the FEAST OF ALL THE SAINTS.

Prayer

Father God, We glorify You and You alone are our God.  Help us denounce all evil deeds even in simple acts. In Jesus' name, Amen.

All the Saints in heaven, pray for us!