Solemnity of All Saints

“Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.” – Matthew 5:4

One day, when my nephew, Marco, was a small boy, he had an accident. He fell and suffered a deep gash on his head. His father, Abel, held his son as the doctor stitched the gaping wound.

      But his father couldn’t do anything but hold him firmly. Little Marco couldn’t understand why his daddy was allowing the doctor to hurt him.

       But with tears, Abel kept embracing his son and said, “This will only be for a minute. Trust me!”

       If you are grieving right now, understand that God is grieving with you. He feels your pain — much more than you feel yours.

       You won’t read this in any theology book, but this is my theory: God feels your pain a zillion times more. Why? Because He loves you a zillion times more than you love yourself. Bo Sanchez (bosanchez@kerygmafamily.com)

Reflection: Are you in pain? Trust that God is with you.

Salvation is indeed a gift from God and there are no people in a better position to affirm this than those who are already in heaven. They have received the fullness of the gift of salvation that we here on earth have only begun to taste. Let us be aware that there are three states of the Church: the Church Triumphant — heaven; the Church Suffering — Purgatory; and the Church Militant — us, who are fighting for our salvation by seeking to follow the will of God.

2 I, John, saw another angel come up from the East, holding the seal of the living God. He cried out in a loud voice to the four angels who were given power to damage the land and the sea, 3 “Do not damage the land or the sea or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.” 4 I heard the number of those who had been marked with the seal, one hundred and forty-four thousand marked from every tribe of the children of Israel. 9 After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. 10 They cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.” 11 All the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshipped God, 12 and exclaimed: “Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” 13 Then one of the elders spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” 14 I said to him, “My Lord, you are the one who knows.” He said to me, “These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

R: Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face.

1 The Lord’s are the earth and its fullness; the world and those who dwell in it. 2 For he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. (R) 3 Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? Or who may stand in his holy place? 4 “One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain. (R) 5 He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, a reward from God his savior. 6 Such is the race that seeks him, that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.” (R)

God has called us His children. We should take this very seriously as it promises what a Father would bestow upon His children, and a perfect father at that. Let us never think that we have been abandoned by God or left to our own resources; God is with us always as a good father is with his children. Let us respect Him as if He is our earthly father and more.

1 Beloved: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure.

The Beatitudes are a guide for the interior disposition of our heart and mind. They are a very high goal for us but we should remember that, with God by our side, all things are possible. Jesus has promised that He will provide all we need to become His disciples. We should take Him at His word and always be ready to ask Him for whatever we need to remain faithful to His calling and to the Gospel.

Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest, says the Lord.

1 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 He began to teach them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land. 6 Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.”

think: God is with us always as a good father is with his children.

READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR Isaiah 37-40

CALLED TO BE SAINTS

Today is All Saints Day, a day when we honor all those who had been found worthy to enter the Kingdom of God. We celebrate this day to move us to strive in life through their examples and to merit the mercy of God through their intercession.

       We read about The Beatitudes today. Right at the start of His teaching ministry, Jesus made sure that the Apostles understood the need to be holy. To enter the Kingdom is the supreme goal of following Jesus. The Beatitudes are supposed to guide, challenge and bring the Apostles to eternal life. In our present context, The Beatitudes are meant to make us saints. To be a saint is the minimum requirement of being a good disciple.

       When we were still seminarians, a bishop once asked us, “Who among you want to become a saint?” None of us answered. We thought it was an impossible, hard and boastful aspiration. Maybe others can, but not us.

       When we look at the lives of saints, they were like many of us. The main difference is their response to God’s invitation to holiness. Some, like St. Augustine, St. Peter or even St. Paul, were even worse than many of us. Yet we regard them as saints because they had found favor with God and had lived out His teachings.

       St. Paul realized that he may boast if it is in the Lord. We can also say that we can be saints in the Lord. That is, if we are to claim and strive for holiness, it is not for praise, recognition or vanity, but because of our love for the Lord. We want to gain heaven, for to be with God is to be a saint.

       Today, all roads lead to the cemeteries. It is not just a day of the dead but a day for the saints. As we gather around the tomb of our loved ones, we not only pray for them but we ask them to pray for us. Hopefully, part of our prayer is for them to guide and lead us to become saints. On this day of the saints, let us rekindle our quest to become saints of God! Fr. Benny Tuazon

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Does your daily life reflect your desire to be a saint?

Lord Jesus, help me to become a saint. It may sound boastful of me to desire that, but my love for You makes me want to be with You in eternal life.