"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."[John 6:68]
All Saints - Solemnity
SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS
Today the Church, as the liturgy states, has "the joy of celebrating in one feast the merits and the glory of all the Saints" : not only of those whom she has canonized in the course of the centuries, but also of the numberless men and women whose holiness, hidden in this world, is only known to God and shines in his eternal kingdom.
Thinking of these illustrious witnesses of the Gospel, we give thanks to God, "source of all holiness" for having given them to the Church and to the world. With their example, they prove that, as the Council teaches, "All the faithful are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity" (Lumen gentium, n. 40), tending to the "high standard" of ordinary Christian life (cf. Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio ineunte, n.31).
Today's feast invites us to lift our eyes to heaven, the goal of our earthly pilgrimage. There the festive community of the saints awaits us. There we will have the company of our dear departed ones for whom we pray in tomorrow's solemn liturgical commemoration.
John Paul II, Angelus (November 1, 2002) - Copyright © Libreria Editrice VaticanaThinking of these illustrious witnesses of the Gospel, we give thanks to God, "source of all holiness" for having given them to the Church and to the world. With their example, they prove that, as the Council teaches, "All the faithful are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity" (Lumen gentium, n. 40), tending to the "high standard" of ordinary Christian life (cf. Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio ineunte, n.31).
Today's feast invites us to lift our eyes to heaven, the goal of our earthly pilgrimage. There the festive community of the saints awaits us. There we will have the company of our dear departed ones for whom we pray in tomorrow's solemn liturgical commemoration.
All Saints - SolemnityThe Book of Revelation 7:2 I saw another angel coming up from the east with a seal from the living God, and he shouted to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea, 3 “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads!” 4 I heard how many were sealed — 144,000 from every tribe of the people of Isra’el:
9 After this, I looked; and there before me was a huge crowd, too large for anyone to count, from every nation, tribe, people and language. They were standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palm branches in their hands; 10 and they shouted,
“Victory to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb!”
11 All the angels stood around the throne, the elders and the four living beings; they fell face down before the throne and worshipped God, saying,
12 “Amen!
“Praise and glory, wisdom and thanks,
honor and power and strength
belong to our God forever and ever!
“Amen!”
13 One of the elders asked me, “These people dressed in white robes — who are they, and where are they from?” 14 “Sir,” I answered, “you know.” Then he told me, “These are the people who have come out of the Great Persecution. They have washed their robes and made them white with the blood of the Lamb.
Psalm 24:(0) By David. A psalm:
(1) The earth is Adonai’s, with all that is in it,
the world and those who live there;
2 for he set its foundations on the seas
and established it on the rivers.
3 Who may go up to the mountain of Adonai?
Who can stand in his holy place?
4 Those with clean hands and pure hearts,
who don’t make vanities the purpose of their lives
or swear oaths just to deceive.
5 They will receive a blessing from Adonai
and justice from God, who saves them.
6 Such is the character of those who seek him,
of Ya‘akov, who seeks your face. (Selah)
The First Letter from John 3:1 See what love the Father has lavished on us in letting us be called God’s children! For that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it has not known him. 2 Dear friends, we are God’s children now; and it has not yet been made clear what we will become. We do know that when he appears, we will be like him; because we will see him as he really is.
3 And everyone who has this hope in him continues purifying himself, since God is pure.
The Holy Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah according to Saint Matthew 5:1 Seeing the crowds, Yeshua walked up the hill. After he sat down, his talmidim came to him, 2 and he began to speak. This is what he taught them:
3 “How blessed are the poor in spirit!
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
4 “How blessed are those who mourn!
for they will be comforted.
5 “How blessed are the meek!
for they will inherit the Land![Matthew 5:5 Psalm 37:11]
6 “How blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness!
for they will be filled.
7 “How blessed are those who show mercy!
for they will be shown mercy.
8 “How blessed are the pure in heart!
for they will see God.
9 “How blessed are those who make peace!
for they will be called sons of God.
10 “How blessed are those who are persecuted
because they pursue righteousness!
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
11 “How blessed you are when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of vicious lies about you because you follow me! 12 Rejoice, be glad, because your reward in heaven is great — they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way.
All Saints - Solemnity
Commentary of the day:
Saint Catherine of Siena (1347-1380), Dominican tertiary, Doctor of the Church, co-patron of Europe
The Dialogue, chapter 41
"I believe in the communion of saints" (The Creed)
God said to saint Catherine: The just soul, for who finishes life in the affection of charity and the bonds of love, cannot increase in virtue, her time having come to an end, but she can always love with the affection with which she comes to me, and the measure that is measured to her (Lk 6:38). She always desires me, and loves me, and her desire is not in vain—being hungry, she is satisfied, and being satisfied, she is still hungry, but the tediousness of satiety and the pain of hunger are far from her. In love, the blessed souls rejoice in my eternal vision, participating in that good that I have in myself, everyone according to their measure, that is, so say, the measure of love with which they have come to me is measured out to them.
Because they have lived in love of me and of their neighbor, they are united together in love… They rejoice and exult, participating in each other’s good with the affection of love, besides the universal good that they enjoy all together. And the saints rejoice and exult with the angels with whom they are placed… They have a special participation with those whom they closely loved with particular affection in the world. With this affection they grew in grace and increased virtue; each one was the occasion for the other to manifest the glory and praise of my name… In everlasting life, they have not lost their love, but keep it still. The joy they have at the happiness of others increases their own happiness with more abundance.
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