Catechism Links[1]
CCC
61, 946-962, 1090, 1137-1139, 1370: The Church, a
communion of saints
CCC
956, 2683: The intercession of the saints
CCC
828, 867, 1173, 2030, 2683-2684: The saints,
examples of holiness
 |
| “Madonna and Child with Saints” by Andrea Del Castagno, c. 1445 |
Readings and Commentary: [4]
Reading 1: 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.”
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Commentary on Rv 7:2-4, 9-14
St.
John’s vision of the heavenly kingdom unfolds in this passage with an image of
those who have gone from this life to the next, and now stand before the throne
of God. “A seal is a mark of ownership and protection. Here the seal of God is
related to the seals of the scroll, giving protection to the believing remnant
of Israel, who will pass through the tribulation. This may refer to a grace of
spiritual perseverance rather than a guarantee of physical survival. In the
broader context of Revelation, there is a contrast between the seal of God
stamped on the foreheads of the righteous and the mark of the beast inscribed
on the brows of the wicked (Revelation
13:16).
The former bears the divine name of God (Revelation
14:1; 22:4) while the latter bears the
demonic name of the beast (CCC 1296). […] The entire scene parallels Ezekiel 9:1-7 where the messenger
seals the foreheads of the righteous in Israel to protect them from the wrath
of God poured out on Jerusalem. The seal was shaped like the Hebrew
letter taw, which in ancient script looked like a cross (x or +).”[5]
Hebrew
numerology provides the number, one hundred and forty-four thousand (from each
of the tribes of Israel) representing a huge number (1,000 times 12 times 12),
possibly a number of completeness, and follows that with uncounted saints from
the Gentiles beginning with the martyrs (those who have washed their robes in
the Blood of the Lamb). ”The blood of the Lamb, who has been offered in
sacrifice for all, has exercised its universal and most effective redemptive
power in every corner of the earth, extending grace and salvation to that
'great multitude'. After undergoing the trials and being purified in the blood
of Christ, they - the redeemed - are now safe in the Kingdom of God, whom they
praise and bless for ever and ever" (Saint John Paul II,
"Homily" 1 November 1981).
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 24:1bc-2,
3-4ab, 5-6
R. (see 6) Lord,
this is the people that longs to see your face.
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. Lord, this is the people that longs to see
your face.
Who can ascend the mountain of the LORD?
or who may stand in his holy place?
One whose hands are sinless, whose heart is
clean,
who desires not what is vain.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see
your face.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
R. Lord, this is the people that longs to see
your face.
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Commentary on Ps 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6
Psalm 24 is a processional song. It recalls that God is the great
creator and he calls his people to be faithful. It asks the question: "Who
can ascend the mountain of the Lord?" The psalmist answers, only those
who are sinless (completely reconciled to God). They who achieve that beatified
state will receive the reward of eternal life from the savior. It focuses on
the character of the one who worthily seeks God, and the one who is worthy to
come into God’s kingdom and stand before him. We are answered: “He whose
hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain.”
This is part of a hymn of entrance, sung as the Ark of the
Covenant was brought into the temple at Jerusalem, followed by the faithful.
Once again in this song, we find a reference borrowed by St. John’s Revelation
(Revelations
14:5),
and an image created in the Letter to the Hebrews (Hebrews 10:22). Who are the ones allowed
full access to God?
CCC: Ps 24:6 2582
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Reading 2: 1 John 3:1-3
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.
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.
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Commentary on 1 Jn 3:1-3
“The greatest sign of God's love is the gift of his Son (John 3:16) that has made Christians
true children of God. This relationship is a present reality and also part of
the life to come; true knowledge of God will ultimately be gained, and
Christians prepare themselves now by virtuous lives in imitation of the Son.”[6] “The world”
is the biblical term consistently used in reference to the non-Christian
populations of that era. In modern terminology it would refer to secular
society.
CCC: 1 Jn 3 2822; 1 Jn 3:1 1692; 1 Jn 3:2 163, 1023, 1161, 1720, 2519, 2772
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Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12a
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the
mountain,
and after he had sat down, his disciples came
to him.
He began to teach them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for
righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the
sake of righteousness,
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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Commentary on Mt
5:1-12a
This section of the Sermon on the Mount begins the first of five
great discourses in St. Matthew’s Gospel. He begins using a formula common in
the Wisdom literature of the Old Testament with “Blessed are the poor in
spirit.”(Job 5:17; Proverbs 3:13; Sirach 25:8-9) This designation
identifies those without material resources, completely dependent upon God.
(This distinction is for the devout poor.) The discourse continues, blessing
those who mourn, who are meek, who “hunger” for righteousness (to adopt the
Lord’s law of love in their hearts), the merciful, the clean of heart (those
who are reconciled to God), the peacemakers, the persecuted, and finally those
who will be reviled because they profess faith in Christ.
The litany of praises for those to be blessed by the Lord has an
overarching theme. It holds up the spiritual strength of complete dependence on
God for life, health, and prosperity. St. Matthew captures the strength in that
dependence, and God’s promise of salvation through the words of the Savior.
It is noteworthy that the word “blessed” [μακάριοι (makάrios) in
Greek and beati in Latin] is translated “happy” in many Old
Testament texts. The idea of happiness or peace as a blessing from God is
an important understanding about the intent of this discourse.
CCC: Mt 5:1 581; Mt 5:3-12 1716; Mt 5:3 544, 2546; Mt 5-7 2763; Mt 5-6 764; Mt 5:8 1720, 2518; Mt 5:9 2305, 2330; Mt 5:11-12 520
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Reflection:
On
this the Solemnity of All Saints we celebrate those who have listened to God’s
word, heard his call, and faithfully followed him. We differentiate the saints,
known and unknown, from those who we remember tomorrow on the Feast of All
Souls because we do not know all those whom God has admitted to his heavenly
court. Some of those whose lives we celebrate are in the list of saints. The
exact number is not easy to find but it is thought to be over 8,000 (saints and
blessed according to Saints.SPQN.Com) but a recent article from Catholic Exchange challenges that number. While one
might think this is a huge number, consider that this list started two thousand
years ago. If there are, as supposed over 8,000, that’s really only about four
a year; roughly lottery statistics.
The
Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) says the following:
By
canonizing some of the faithful, i.e., by solemnly proclaiming that they
practiced heroic virtue and lived in fidelity to God's grace, the Church
recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within her and sustains the hope
of believers by proposing the saints to them as models and intercessors.
"The saints have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most
difficult moments in the Church's history." Indeed, "holiness is the
hidden source and infallible measure of her apostolic activity and missionary
zeal."
(CCC 828)
The
important fact about this celebration is that we remember all of the men and
women who have demonstrated heroic virtue for the cause of the Holy Church.
Their examples of faith and fidelity span almost every conceivable
circumstance, era, and life-style. There is, within the ranks of those at the
foot of the throne of God, a saint with whom every person on earth may identify
and say – “That one is almost like me.” And that is the idea behind All Saints:
to recall the various paths offered by God to the holy men and women who so
faithfully served him on earth. We are given this day to reflect on our own
lives and what they may yet become in the service of the Lord.
There
is a reason that St. Matthew’s recollection of the beginning of the Sermon on
the Mount is given to us on this feast day. The Lord invites all of us to
participate in being called “blessed.” He calls and has called all peoples of
all nations and ranks from the loftiest halls of power to the lowliest beggar
in the street to follow him and serve his great plan.
Today
we think about all those wondrous men and women who have gone before us in
faith and provided Holy Mother Church with the great and small saints who have
done the Lord’s will throughout the ages. We give them thanks for their
examples, praise for their faithfulness, and ask for their prayers that we too
might come into that heavenly presence and join them in their hymns of praise.
Pax
In other years on this date: Thursday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
[1] Catechism links are taken from the Homiletic Directory, Published by the Congregation
for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014
[2] The picture
is “Madonna and Child with Saints” by Andrea Del Castagno, c. 1445
[4] The
readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm
and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is
for private use only.
[5] Ignatius
Catholic Study Bible, © 2010, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, CA. p. 501.
[6] See NAB footnote on 1 Jn 3:1-3.
