First Reading (Rev 7:2-4.9-14): Saint John gives us a vision of hope in the ultimate future: Those who live according to the gospel will be victorious with him. Their number will be uncountable.
Second Reading (1 Jn 3:1-3): 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.
Gospel (Mt 5,1-12a): The Beatitudes: The values of the Gospel are different from those of the world; however, we have to live them in the world to do something better.
There are several ways to translate the Greek word Makários into our language: "Good", "happy", "joyful", "blessed", "fortunate", and we could also include the word "holy" (although there is a Greek term for holy: Ágios). So, on this Solemnity of All Saints, we celebrate the people who have lived plentifully in this world, who have spent their lives sowing the seeds of goodness. Because they were good people, happy, joyful, blessed, fortunate, holy ... Even if they, as the Gospel of this day says, have had to cry, suffer difficulties fighting for justice.
In the first reading, taken from the book of Revelation, we find this question about the great crowd: “Who are these wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” The answer is: “…they are the ones who have whitened their tunic in the blood of the lamb”, that is, Christ. It could also be explained like this: They are the blessed, the merciful, the pure in heart, the poor in spirit, the persecuted for the sake of justice ... And each one of us has been called, by our Baptism, to be part of this great family of the children of God. That is why we can consider ourselves, from now on, "happy", "blessed", because that great end awaits for us in the presence of God.
Comments