Today is
"All Saints Day" and we may have wondered what set them apart from
all others. Today's readings answer in a way everything there is to know about
them and to do to be like them. We must
realize that it is not only them who have been given the privilege to be a
saint but all of us. We are called to fulfill our destiny in being in union
with God. We must remain hopeful that when that day comes we will be one of
those fortunate ones bearing the seal of the Lord. God is constantly reminding
us of His great love for us, calls us by name and considers us as His own. We
should always be aware of this privilege and not forfeit the benefits and honor
to be counted as one of these people being spoken of in today's 1st reading.
Only the tough gets going and the survivor lives. This is a standing regulation
in most extreme challenge game shows or high rating reality shows that are very
popular nowadays. This is exciting for most of us to watch on television
because we see how they battle with their skills and find their way up to the
winner’s spot. The winner gets home with the trophy and the most exciting
prizes that they could think of. A very
attractive package of gifts and surprises are in store for the winner. This is one
of the things that lure people to go for it. Only those who dare to take the
challenge can emerge as the winner. Somehow we could connect this type of thing
with this passage from today’s 1st reading. We ought to realize that just like
those extreme challengers, we are also participants of this game called life
and in the end when everything is over and done, a prize awaits us. No
eye has seen, no ear has heard nor can we imagine what God has ready for those
who love Him. Amen. Hallelujah!
Book of
Revelation 7,2-4.9-14.
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, “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.” 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 .
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. They cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation comes from
our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb.” All the angels stood
around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They
prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed:
“Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving, honor,
power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” Then one of the elders
spoke up and said to me, “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they
come from?” 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.”
We can't claim to be this kind of person, a Christian but
conduct ourselves in a very unlikely way. Let us no longer be deceived by the
false and misleading truths and principles that this world presents to us every
single day. We have to be grounded at all times on this truth that today's
psalm is telling us. There was a time when Tita Neds complained that something
is wrong with the television. She said that somebody fixed it already but it
didn't stay fixed for long. It wasn't the manufacturer who repaired it that was
why. If it was brought to its manufacturer they would definitely know what to
do with it. We've got to be conscious of this reality and apply it to
ourselves. When something goes wrong we should know where to go, to whom we
really belong, the Lord. This is the covenant: we belong to the Lord and He
belongs to us for we are His people and He is our God. If we look at what's
happening in the world today most especially the economic crisis wherein even
the leading nations are being challenged by the present situation then we are
really bound to anticipate the worst. Not even those people who used to be very
confident of their present jobs in their respective stable companies can be too
sure of what's going to happen next. There have been so much speculations of
what will be the outcome of this worldwide problem of the economy and most of
them are not good. With all these rubble, there is just really one thing we
need to focus on and that is God. It is not easy to live life in this world but
we can rejoice and be glad, we have an army, a battalion, a full house of
saints with all the angels constantly and endlessly praying and singing in
heaven, the so called triumphant Church/army of God, who intercede in our
behalf and is joyously inviting us to be one of them. We are being reminded by
the readings today to always keep ourselves blameless before the Lord no matter
how tough things are. God wants to be with us, there is no doubt about that.
But just like water and oil which can not be put together and mixed so is God
and man if we are in sin or harbor anything that can not be attributed to the
holiness of God. We can not force two different things to go together. Water is
a polar molecule and oil is non polar. They do not mix because they are two
different substances as in the adage, "Like dissolves like." God can
not change. He is already who He is, Holy in all His ways. We can change. We
can be like God in His holiness and goodness if we want to be with Him forever.
Let us not lose sight of what a mighty God we serve who made the heavens and
the earth. We pray to God to open our eyes that we may see the wonders of His
love. We should think profoundly of our daily walk with the Lord which consists
of not only a leisure stroll in the plains and valleys of life but a steep
climb up to the top of the mountain. We must avail of the sacrament of
reconciliation. It gives us renewed strength and hope. Our life consists of
steep and dangerous climbs but we must not forget that God is always at our
side. If we are to carefully assess our life we would find that it feels good
whenever we are able to overcome most of our pitfalls though there are some
that still needs improvement. We must praise and thank God that every time we
experience a fall back and backslide we can immediately go back to Him through
the sacrament of confession which restores us to our original path and right
track. It is God's desire that we will someday come face to face with Him.
There is a need for us to prepare for that day. We are sometimes guilty of not
focusing on God's countenance alone, there are times when we get distracted by
other things and today's psalm reading serves as the reminder. I heard a story
about God's radiating and blinding light that when we stand before Him nothing
is hidden from Him, He will never turn away from us but if we ourselves are
tainted with the guilt of our sins then we can not withstand His presence and
will definitely hide and ran away from Him, far from His ever blinding Light
that penetrates us. Let us all hope that when that day comes we can stand in
His Holy Presence and claim with confidence our rightful place in His Kingdom.
For our information, all of us are eligible to be in heaven with God. There is
no doubt about this since we have been made and washed clean by the Blood of
the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. A virgin is with child. The Old Testament
scriptures have foretold of this and point to the coming of Christ. The
prophets preannounced and prefigured His coming and pointed to the fulfillment
in Jesus in the New Testament. He has loved us first and continues to do so. He
encounters us ever anew in the sacraments especially in the Eucharist. The
Church helps us to respond to God’s initiative through word and teaching and
the gathering of believers who respond faithfully. We have to be firm,
resilient and faithful people of God. We’ve got to really focus on what is
truly important and essential. We live in a world where there are so many
distractions that we tend to lose sight of what should be our greatest and most
important concern. After all has been said and done we will find in the end that
what truly matters is not what will last only in this lifetime but for all
eternity, a reward from God our Savior. When somebody invites us for a party we
just don't go there without preparing ourselves for it. Much more gatecrash and
just go to a party without an invitation. We are blessed that God has invited
us. The best we could do being privileged, honored and counted to come to His
banquet in heaven is to make preparations and always be ready to take part in
it, really belong and not end up an outcast. We should not lose sight of this
standing invitation that God gives us in our daily life. There is indeed a need
to always be prepared so that when the final moment comes we can reside in the
heavenly abode of God. In every game there is a rule to follow and only those
who play it fair and square can finish to the end and win their prize. Today’s
psalm gives us a guideline to follow in order to make it through. We should
always long to see the face of God at all times in every person, event and circumstance
in our lives. Let us always hold on to this image so that someday when we
finally come face to face with God we will receive a blessing and reward for He
will surely bring about what He said He would do. In the course of the time and
in the history of mankind we hear of people like Abraham chosen by God. The
chosen people were given laws and ordinances to follow. The remnants of the
chosen people or those who were faithful to God in keeping these commandments
like Simeon and Anna, Joachim and Anne are those who belong to the Hebrew
generation, kept the Jewish tradition and prepared the way for the coming of
the Messiah. This initiation of God in loving us first should bring us to act
and make love blossom as a response on our part. We've got to be aware that the
no one but the Lord is the King of glory. Amen. Hallelujah!
P S A L M
Psalm 24:1b-2. 3-4ab. 5-6
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. 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 He 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. Such are
the people that love the LORD, that seek the face of the God of Jacob."
Aside from
the rules to follow there are also certain criteria to meet in order to qualify
for certain games. It is a consolation to know that we have all been
pre-qualified through our Lord Jesus Christ to enter into His Kingdom. We are
God’s children and the rest is up to us. If we are to live up to this honor and
privilege or not is all in our hands. Let us always be faithful to Him, who
alone can deliver us. We may have heard stories of how people who died come
rushing to be with the Lord and describe the unexplainable joy of being able to
see God face to face. Since we are still part of this mortal body we still do
not feel the urgency of being with the Lord since we still belong to this world
as stated " 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. " That is why we are always continuously
struggling between good and evil because technically we are still in this world
and somehow attached to it that we should make a conscious effort to always
cling to the Lord. But as earlier stated in the bible passage only the clean
and pure of heart can stand before Him so we should always guard our actions
that each day be an offering to the Lord as we continuously work toward this
goal. It is not easy but it is also said that the Lord will bless and save
those who love Him. It is with this hope that we persevere in what we do. The
2nd reading for today emphasizes to us the truth and privilege we have as God's
children. We must not neglect and forfeit this by always being mindful of the
good things that God is continuously showering upon us and strive to really be
deserving of the blessings He has bestowed on us. With the confidence of a
beloved child of God, we all strive to become like Him in every way. Human
parents although imperfect are capable of giving to their children all the best
that they could offer. Parents could relate to this and would definitely agree
to it. What can our Father in Heaven give to us more than the title, children
of God? Today's 2nd reading gets even better by continuously affirming
not just me but each one of us as well, who long and hope in the Lord. Amen.
Hallelujah!
First
Letter of John 3,1-3.
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.
Thomas
Aquinas said that the perfect exemplification of the beatitudes can be seen if
we look at Jesus. He is a happy man, a picture of freedom and joy. The main
point is detachment. Jesus is detached from the things which we typically seek.
He loved doing the will of His Father. We need to look to our Lord on the cross
and despise what He despised on the cross, wealth, pleasure, power and
honor. Wealth, he has none he was
stripped naked even of His clothes. Pleasure he was at the limit of physical
and psychological suffering. Power, he was nailed on the cross. Honor, he was
mocked as he was publicly displayed and crucified. On the cross, he is the
ultimate peace maker and the bringer of divine mercy, if Aquinas is right then
Jesus on the cross is a picture of a happy man. We are all on the building
business, building a life that will endure, we are each a foreman to our
building, we are masters of our own faith. Others take a material build a
shack, a cathedral or build a tragedy, as William Shakespeare says, “to be or
not to be” We are each given a bag of tools, a stepping stone or a stumbling
block. The buildings we build are: … loss of a loved one, broken relationship and
how we react to them depends on whether we have built a house on sand or rock,
the test is the daily grind. There is no
end to the daily grind we just have to live one day at a time. The challenges
depend whether we have taken the words of our Lord seriously. Take the extra
mile. Is the Lord right? Nothing is built on hatred. Nothing lasts until it is
built on love. Forgiveness is important. A person who is unforgiving suffers
from various ailments. PJPII forgave the person who tried to kill him. Have we
built our life on Him who is the rock? Or think that we know better. Our house
is in ruin until the Lord come to make it a fitting dwelling. There is only one
thing that can make us truly happy, to get to heaven. When our Lord saw the
sadness of human beings he gave the formula in the sermon on the mount. Not once
does He mentioned, money, fame, houses, entertainment and exotic cruises. The
formula for happiness lies in the truth that our heart is at rest. According to
Oscar Wilde there are 2 terrible tragedies in life, not to get what our heart
sets upon or to get it. Some of us get this truth the hard way. Poverty in
spirit means that we are empty. By nature of course we are like a vacuum
because we have to be filled with something. When we finally get what we long
for, that is when we realize that we can not have them nor could we own them
forever. The only way to attain true happiness is to be possessed by the Lord.
We have to learn to let go of yesterday. For example, the joys of our youth we
must enjoy God’s gift to us today which is called the present. We must learn to
face all these challenges with our Lord and be empty of everything except Him.
The beatitudes will serve as our map in our quest to heaven. Beatitudes are
like eyeglasses that help us to see what is important so as not to lose sight
of what is right. Whenever we are to decide and act on something we might as
well ask ourselves this, “Is this choice going to bring me closer to heaven?”
The more we get our vision corrected the more we get closer to heaven. What is
going to bring us closer to heaven? St. Francis of Assisi Kingdom of God
Holy Gospel
of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 5,1-12.
"...Blessed
are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.....
Blessed are
you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against
you (falsely) because of me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great
in heaven....."
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