Lord Jesus, |
My Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today we celebrate the Feast of All Saints. The word saint comes from the Latin word sanctus, which means “holy”. Literally, the word saint means “holy one”. It recalls God’s command to the chosen people: “Keep yourselves holy, because I am holy”. (Leviticus 11:44). Early Christians, like St. Paul referred to one another as “holy ones”, or “saints”. The New Testament uses the word over 60 times in this sense. With the passage of time, however, the word saint was reserved exclusively for those Christians who were martyred or who had lived lives of remarkable holiness. Today, the Church recognizes as “saints” thousands of men and women whose lives have mirrored, in a special way, the holiness of God. It is these people whom we honour today.
The scheduled readings for this Sunday are replaced with the traditional readings for All Saints. The 1st reading from the Book of Revelation (Rev.7:2-4, 9-14) contains two separate visions that John experiences. The first vision refers to a well-known number: 144,000. This number is the square of twelve (144), multiplied by one thousand (thus 144,000). Scholars think the number “twelve” may represent the historic twelve tribes of Israel, and the number “one thousand” may represent the universal scope of all people saved by Christ (i.e. the new Israel). The “seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God” represents the mark that will identify those to be saved (i.e. the elect) who have suffered for their faith in Christ. These are among the first generation of Christian Martyrs. The second vision is meant to encourage all those who were currently suffering persecution (the “great distress”) for their faith in Christ.
In the second reading (1Jn:1-3), the author John urges the recipients of his letter to be a community of “hope”, to be imitators of Christ, as “pure” as Christ himself.
The Gospel reading (Mt.5:1-12a) narrates the beatitudes, the new law issued by Jesus. They can also be seen as a list of qualities that defines a saint. As we listen to these beatitudes hopefully we find ourselves connecting to some of them. If we do, we can be assured we are showing others what it means to be a living saint.
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