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 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. Amen. Hallelujah!
Book of
Revelation 7,2-4.9-14.
"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....." "....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."
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 most
especially today on their feast day. 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. 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. 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. 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. A virgin is with child. 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. 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 consistent to the kind of people who longs to see
God's face. 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. Amen. Hallelujah!
Psalm
24:1-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
R: Lord,
this is the people that longs to see your face.
...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? Amen.
Hallelujah!
First
Letter of John 3,1-3.
"....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. 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 … Lost 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 he 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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