2022년 11월 1일 모든 성인 대축일
오늘의 복음 : http://info.catholic.or.kr/missa/default.asp
제1독서
<내가 보니, 아무도 수를 셀 수 없을 만큼 큰 무리가 있었습니다. 그들은 모든 민족과 종족과 백성과 언어권에서 나온 사람들이었습니다.>
요한 묵시록. 7,2-4.9-14
나 요한은 2 다른 한 천사가 살아 계신 하느님의 인장을 가지고
해 돋는 쪽에서 올라오는 것을 보았습니다.
그가 땅과 바다를 해칠 권한을 받은 네 천사에게 큰 소리로 외쳤습니다.
3 “우리가 우리 하느님의 종들의 이마에 인장을 찍을 때까지
땅도 바다도 나무도 해치지 마라.”
4 나는 인장을 받은 이들의 수가 십사만 사천 명이라고 들었습니다.
인장을 받은 이들은
이스라엘 자손들의 모든 지파에서 나온 사람들이었습니다.
9 그다음에 내가 보니, 아무도 수를 셀 수 없을 만큼 큰 무리가 있었습니다.
모든 민족과 종족과 백성과 언어권에서 나온 그들은,
희고 긴 겉옷을 입고 손에는 야자나무 가지를 들고서
어좌 앞에 또 어린양 앞에 서 있었습니다.
10 그들이 큰 소리로 외쳤습니다.
“구원은 어좌에 앉아 계신 우리 하느님과 어린양의 것입니다.”
11 그러자 모든 천사가 어좌와 원로들과 네 생물 둘레에 서 있다가,
어좌 앞에 얼굴을 땅에 대고 엎드려 하느님께 경배하며 12 말하였습니다.
“아멘. 우리 하느님께 찬미와 영광과 지혜와 감사와 영예와 권능과 힘이
영원무궁하기를 빕니다. 아멘.”
13 그때에 원로 가운데 하나가,
“희고 긴 겉옷을 입은 저 사람들은 누구이며 어디에서 왔느냐?” 하고
나에게 물었습니다.
14 “원로님, 원로님께서 알고 계시지 않습니까?” 하고
내가 대답하였더니, 그가 나에게 말하였습니다.
“저 사람들은 큰 환난을 겪어 낸 사람들이다.
저들은 어린양의 피로 자기들의 긴 겉옷을 깨끗이 빨아 희게 하였다.”
제2독서
<우리는 하느님을 있는 그대로 뵙게 될 것입니다.>
요한 1서. 3,1-3
사랑하는 여러분,
1 아버지께서 우리에게 얼마나 큰 사랑을 주시어
우리가 하느님의 자녀라 불리게 되었는지 생각해 보십시오.
과연 우리는 그분의 자녀입니다.
세상이 우리를 알지 못하는 까닭은
세상이 그분을 알지 못하였기 때문입니다.
2 사랑하는 여러분, 이제 우리는 하느님의 자녀입니다.
우리가 어떻게 될지는 아직 드러나지 않았지만,
그분께서 나타나시면 우리도 그분처럼 되리라는 것은 알고 있습니다.
그분을 있는 그대로 뵙게 될 것이기 때문입니다.
3 그분께 이러한 희망을 두는 사람은 모두,
그리스도께서 순결하신 것처럼 자신도 순결하게 합니다.
복음
<기뻐하고 즐거워하여라. 너희가 하늘에서 받을 상이 크다.>
마태오. 5,1-12ㄴ
그때에 1 예수님께서는 군중을 보시고 산으로 오르셨다.
그분께서 자리에 앉으시자 제자들이 그분께 다가왔다.
2 예수님께서 입을 여시어 그들을 이렇게 가르치셨다.
3 “행복하여라, 마음이 가난한 사람들! 하늘 나라가 그들의 것이다.
4 행복하여라, 슬퍼하는 사람들! 그들은 위로를 받을 것이다.
5 행복하여라, 온유한 사람들! 그들은 땅을 차지할 것이다.
6 행복하여라, 의로움에 주리고 목마른 사람들! 그들은 흡족해질 것이다.
7 행복하여라, 자비로운 사람들! 그들은 자비를 입을 것이다.
8 행복하여라, 마음이 깨끗한 사람들! 그들은 하느님을 볼 것이다.
9 행복하여라, 평화를 이루는 사람들! 그들은 하느님의 자녀라 불릴 것이다.
10 행복하여라, 의로움 때문에 박해를 받는 사람들!
하늘 나라가 그들의 것이다.
11 사람들이 나 때문에 너희를 모욕하고 박해하며,
너희를 거슬러 거짓으로 온갖 사악한 말을 하면, 너희는 행복하다!
12 기뻐하고 즐거워하여라. 너희가 하늘에서 받을 상이 크다.”
November 1, 2022
Solemnity of All Saints
Daily Mass : https://www.youtube.com/c/EWTNcatholictv : https://www.youtube.com/c/DailyTVMass
Reading 1
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.”
Responsorial Psalm
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.
Reading 2
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.
Gospel
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.”
Solemnity of All Saints
Rv 7:2-4, 9-14 I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea, saying, “Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.” And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel: After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Vision of the Multitude
What a consoling vision of hope we are given by the Church on this Solemnity of All Saints! A countless multitude from all tribes, peoples, and languages gathered in the presence of God, together with Jesus the Lamb of God, and the angels who have carried the message of God’s saving power throughout the history of creation.
The particularity of this vision is stunning!
Nothing has been lost. No language. No culture. No people. No tribe. What we thought was dead is in fact alive and giving glory to God!
This is not a vision of an other-wordly community. This is a vision of us, each of us and all of us, with our ordeals overcome and God’s salvation made known.
What an image to savor today, knowing that it is not simply an image, but in our very savoring, our own song of praise is resounding among the multitude.
—Ryen Dwyer, SJ, is a Jesuit from the Midwest Province studying theology at Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, California.
Prayer
All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord,
and all your faithful shall bless you.
—Psalm 145:10
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
I find myself thinking about what makes a Saint a Saint. While the Church has an official process for canonization, my naïve perception of what constitutes a Saint would start with certain characteristics: virtue, holiness, kindness, and patience. These are not so different from qualities which Jesus encourages in today’s Gospel. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus lays out a set of guidelines for living. The Beatitudes give guidance encouraging a clean heart, righteousness, mercy, and an agency for peace. They also offer some counterintuitive direction (poverty of spirit and meekness).
When I set out to get an idea across, I make sure it is highlighted in both the beginning and end of my presentation. I would like to think that this is the case in the Beatitudes. I understand poverty of spirit to mean placing one’s trust in God rather than the things of this world. I interpret the second to the last Beatitude to be a call to discernment of and faithfulness to God’s will as contrasted to earthly honors and wealth. I think that it may be the final Beatitude which may best express my understanding of Sainthood. I see persistence and grit with respect to the mission as defining factor.
I see this factor is also found in today’s first reading. The passage from the Book of Revelation concludes as identifying the elect as “the ones who have survived the time of great distress”, which I understand to be those who would be the Saints to the author of Revelations. If I imagine myself in the place and time of this author, my feeling is that the Saints would be the faithful who did not yield to the Roman persecutions.
I find that this persistence and grit in identifying and following God’s will seems to be a trait common to the Saints across the ages. Although it takes very different forms, I can see this in the early martyrs, Saints like Theresa of Avila, and Saints like Mother Theresa.
I am reminded of the distinction between Saints and saints, which we were taught by the nuns in elementary school. I think of the small but nevertheless heroic acts of my parents and my deceased oldest sister. They clearly deserve to be known as saints. Although their lives did not consist of what would be called acts on the grand scale (martyrdom or acts of service that become widely recognized), their more subtle embracing of God’s will in everyday life gives me confidence that they too have been granted sainthood.
My prayer today is for perseverance in hearing and following God’s call.
Dear Lord,
I am consoled by the thought that many of the Saints had a less than perfect past.
Forgive me and heal me for my shortcomings and bad choices.
Open my heart and mind to Your direction.
Allow me to follow the models of Your Saints and Your saints.
http://www.presentationministries.com/obob/obob.asp
PURE HOLINESS
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” —Matthew 5:8, RSV-CE
Saints see God, for they are pure in heart. They are pure as Jesus is pure (1 Jn 3:3). “They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rv 7:14). “They are pure and follow the Lamb wherever He goes” (Rv 14:4). Saints have been refined “like gold or like silver that they may offer due sacrifice to the Lord” (Mal 3:3). “By obedience to the truth,” saints “have purified” themselves “for a genuine love” of their brothers and sisters (1 Pt 1:22). Jesus has opened “a fountain to purify from sin and uncleanness” (Zec 13:1).
Therefore, “let us purify ourselves from every defilement of flesh and spirit, and in the fear of God strive to fulfill our consecration perfectly” (2 Cor 7:1). Let us purify ourselves completely as soon as possible. Let us finish our purgatory before death and in the near future. This will please the Lord and make us more holy, free, and joyful. The more purified we are in our holiness, the deeper is our love for others and the greater is our service to them.
What the world needs now is what it has always needed — great saints. “Holy men and women have always been the source and origin of renewal in the most difficult circumstances throughout the Church’s history. Today we have a tremendous need of saints, for whom we must assiduously implore God” (Consecrated Life, Pope St. John Paul II, 35). Be pure to be holy.
Prayer: Father, make me holy as soon as possible — whatever it takes.
Promise: “Who can ascend the mountain of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He whose hands are sinless, whose heart is clean, who desires not what is vain.” —Ps 24:3-4
Praise: The Church’s greatest saints were made of flesh and blood, just like us. How will we imitate them in serving the risen Jesus?
http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/readings/
What does it mean to "eat bread in the kingdom of heaven"? In the ancient world the most notable sign of favor and intimate friendship was the invitation to "share bread" at the dinner table. Who you ate with showed who you valued and trusted as your friends. A great banquet would involve a lavish meal of several courses and a large company of notable guests and friends. One of the most beautiful images of heaven in the scriptures is the royal wedding celebration and banquet given by the King for his son and friends. We, in fact, have been invited to the most important banquet of all! The last book in the Bible ends with an invitation to the wedding feast of the Lamb and his Bride, the church: The Spirit and the Bride say, Come! (Revelations 22:17). The 'Lamb of God' is the Lord Jesus Christ and his bride is the people he has redeemed by his own precious blood which was shed upon the cross for our salvation.
Making light of the Lord's gracious invitation to feast at his table
Jesus' "banquet parable" must have startled his audience. If a great lord or king invited his friends to a banquet, why would the guests turn down his invitation? A great banquet would take many days to prepare. And personal invitations would be sent out well in advance to the guests, so they would have plenty of time to prepare for the upcoming event. How insulting for the invited guests to then refuse when the time for celebrating came! They made light of the King's request because they put their own interests above his.
Excuses that hold us back from pursuing the things of God
Jesus probes the reasons why people make excuses to God's great invitation to "eat bread" with him at his banquet table. The first excuse allows the claims of one's personal business or work to take precedence over God's claim. Do you allow any task or endeavor to absorb you so much that it keeps you from the thought of God? The second excuse allows our possessions to come before God. Do you allow the media and other diversions to crowd out time for God in daily prayer and worship? The third excuse puts home and family ahead of God. God never meant for our home and relationships to be used selfishly. We serve God best when we invite him into our work, our homes, and our personal lives and when we share our possessions with others.
An invitation of undeserved grace and favor
The second part of the story focuses on those who had no claim on the king and who would never have considered getting such an invitation. The "poor, maimed, blind, and lame" represent the outcasts of society - those who can make no claim on the King. There is ample room at the feast of God even for outsiders from the highways and hedges - the Gentiles who were not members of the chosen people, the Jews. This is certainly an invitation of grace - undeserved, unmerited favor and kindness. But this invitation also contains a warning for those who refuse it or who approach the wedding feast unworthily. Grace is a free gift, but it is also an awesome responsibility.
God's grace is free and costly
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German pastor who died for his faith under the Nazi persecution of Jews and Christians, contrastedcheap grace andcostly grace: "Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves... the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance... grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate... Costly grace is the Gospel which must be sought again and again, the gift which must be asked for, the door at which a man must knock. Such grace is costly because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life."
God lavishes his grace upon each one of us to draw us closer to himself and he invites each of us to his banquet that we may share more deeply in his joy. Are you ready to feast at the Lord's banquet table?
Lord Jesus, you withhold no good thing from us and you lavish us with the treasures of heaven. Help me to seek your kingdom first and to lay aside anything that might hinder me from doing your will.
Psalm 131:1-3
1 O LORD, my heart is not lifted up, my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.
2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a child quieted at its mother's breast; like a child that is quieted is my soul.
3 O Israel, hope in the LORD from this time forth and for evermore.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: The heavenly food of Jesus' word, by Clement of Alexandria (150-215 AD)
"The holy agape is the sublime and saving creation of the Lord... An agape is in reality heavenly food, a banquet of the Word. The agape, or love, 'bears all things, endures all things, hopes all things. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). 'Blessed is he who eats bread in the kingdom of God' (Luke 14:15). The most unlikely of all downfalls is charity that does not fail to be thrown down from heaven to earth among all these dainty seasonings. Do you still imagine that I refer to a meal that will be destroyed? (1 Corinthians 6:13) 'If I distribute my goods to the poor and do not have love,' Scripture says, 'I am nothing' (1 Corinthians 13:3). The whole law and the word depend on this love (Matthew 22:40). If you love the Lord your God and your neighbor (Mark 12:30-31), there will be a heavenly feast in heaven. The earthly feast, as we have proved from Scripture, is called a supper. It is permeated with love yet is not identified with it but is an expression of mutual and generous good will." (excerpt from CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 2,1)
https://www.youtube.com/user/AnthonyCompanions/videos
More Homilies
November 1, 2021 Solemnity of All Saints