LIVING THE GOSPEL

All Saints Sunday – Nov 1, 2015

Theme: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.” ______

Gathering Prayer

All: Almighty ever-living God, by whose gift we venerate in one celebration the merits of all the Saints, bestow on us, we pray, through the prayers of so many intercessors, an abundance of the reconciliation with you for which we earnestly long. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Exploring the Word

Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:1-12

1Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up the hill. There he sat down and was joined by his disciples. 2Then he began to speak. This is what he taught them:

3‘How happy are the poor in spirit; theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Happy the gentle: they shall have the earth for their heritage. 5Happy those who mourn: they shall be comforted. 6Happy those who hunger and thirst for what is right: they shall be satisfied. 7Happy the merciful: they shall have mercy shown them. 8Happy the pure in heart: they shall see God. 9Happy the peacemakers: they shall be called sons of God. 10Happy those who are persecuted in the cause of right: theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11‘Happy are you when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against you on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.’

Gospel Notes

5:1. The discourse, or sermon, on the mount takes up three full chapters of St Matthew's Gospel—chapters 5-7. It is the first of the five great discourses of Jesus which appear in this Gospel and contains a considerable amount of our Lord's teaching. It is difficult to reduce this discourse to one single theme, but the various teachings it contains could be said to deal with these five points: 1) the attitude a person must have for entering the Kingdom of heaven (the Beatitudes, the salt of the earth, the light of the world, Jesus and his teaching, the fullness of the Law); 2) uprightness of intention in religious practices (here the Our Father would be included); 3) trust in God's fatherly providence; 4) how God's children should behave towards one another (not judging one's neighbour, respect for holy things, the effectiveness of prayer and the golden rule of charity); 5) the conditions for entering the Kingdom (the narrow gate, false prophets and building on rock). "He taught them": this refers both to the disciples and to the multitude, as can be seen at the end of the Sermon (Mt 7:28).

5:2. The Beatitudes (5:3-12) form, as it were, the gateway to the Sermon on the Mount. In order to understand the Beatitudes properly, we should bear in mind that they do not promise salvation only to the particular kinds of people listed here: they cover everyone whose religious dispositions and moral conduct meet the demands which Jesus lays down. In other words, the poor in spirit, the meek, those who mourn, those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and those who suffer persecution in their search for holiness—these are not different people or kinds of people but different demands made on everyone who wants to be a disciple of Christ. Similarly, salvation is not being promised to different groups in society but to everyone, no matter what his or her position in life, who strives to follow the spirit and to meet the demands contained in the Beatitudes. All the Beatitudes have an eschatological meaning, that is, they promise us definitive salvation, not in this world, but in the next. But the spirit of the Beatitudes does give us, in this life, peace in the midst of tribulation. The Beatitudes imply a completely new approach, quite at odds with the usual way man evaluates things: they rule out any kind of pharisaical religiosity, which regards earthly happiness as a blessing from God and a reward for good behaviour, and unhappiness and misfortune as a form of punishment. In all ages the Beatitudes put spiritual good on a much higher plane than material possessions. The healthy and the sick, the powerful and the weak, the rich and the poor—all are called, independently of their circumstances, to the deep happiness that is experienced by those who live up to the Beatitudes which Jesus teaches. The Beatitudes do not, of course, contain the entire teaching of the Gospel, but they do contain, in embryo, the whole programme of Christian perfection.

5:3. This text outlines the connection between poverty and the soul. This religious concept of poverty was deeply rooted in the Old Testament (cf., e.g., Zeph 2:3ff). It was more to do with a religious attitude of neediness and of humility towards God than with material poverty: that person is poor who has recourse to God without relying on his own merits and who trusts in God's mercy to be saved. This religious attitude of poverty is closely related to what is called "spiritual childhood". A Christian sees himself as a little child in the presence of God, a child who owns nothing: everything he has comes from God and belongs to God. Certainly, spiritual poverty, that is, Christian poverty, means one must be detached from material things and practice austerity in using them. God asks certain people—religious— to be legally detached from ownership and thereby bear witness to others of the transitoriness of earthly things.

5:4. "Those who mourn": here our Lord is saying that those are blessed who suffer from any kind of affliction—particularly those who are genuinely sorry for their sins, or are pained by the offences which others offer God, and who bear their suffering with love and with a spirit of atonement. "You are crying? Don't be ashamed of it. Yes, cry: men also cry like you, when they are alone and before God. Each night, says King David, I soak my bed with tears. With those tears, those burning manly tears, you can purify your past and supernaturalize your present life" (St J. Escriva, The Way, 216). The Spirit of God will console with peace and joy, even in this life, those who weep for their sins, and later he will give them a share in the fullness of happiness and glory in heaven: these are the blessed.

5:5. "The meek": those who patiently suffer unjust persecution; those who remain serene, humble and steadfast in adversity, and do not give way to resentment or discouragement. The virtue of meekness is very necessary in the Christian life. Usually irritableness, which is very common, stems from a lack of humility and interior peace. "The earth": this is usually understood as meaning our heavenly fatherland.

5:6. The notion of righteousness (or justice) in Holy Scripture is an essentially religious one (cf. notes on Mt 1:19 and 3:15; Rom 1:17; 1:18-32; 3:21-22 and 24). A righteous person is one who sincerely strives to do the will of God, which is discovered in the command- ments, in one's duties of state in life and through one's life of prayer. Thus, righteousness, in the language of the Bible, is the same as what nowadays is usually called "holiness" (1 Jn 2:29; 3:7-10; Rev 22:11; Gen 15:6; Deut 9:4). As St Jerome comments (Comm. on Matthew, 5, 6), in the fourth Beatitude our Lord is asking us not simply to have a vague desire for righteousness: we should hunger and thirst for it, that is, we should love and strive earnestly to seek what makes a man righteous in God's eyes. A person who genuinely wants to attain Christian holiness should love the means that the Church, the universal vehicle of salvation, offers all mean and teaches them to use—frequent use of the sacraments, an intimate relationship with God in prayer, a valiant effort to meet one's social, professional and family responsibilities.

5:7. Mercy is not just a matter of giving alms to the poor but also of being understanding towards other people's defects, overlooking them, helping them cope with them and loving them despite whatever defects they may have. Being merciful also means rejoicing and suffering with other people.

5:8. Christ teaches us that the source of the quality of human acts lies in the heart, that is, in a man's soul, in the depth of his spirit. "When we speak of a person's heart, we refer not just to his sentiments, but to the whole person in his loving dealings with others. In order to help us understand divine things, Scripture uses the expression 'heart' in its full meaning, as the summary and source, expression and ultimate basis, of one's thoughts, words and actions. A man is worth what his heart is worth" (St J. Escriva, Christ Is Passing By, 164). Cleanness of heart is a gift of God, which expresses itself in a capacity to love, in having an upright and pure attitude to everything noble. As St Paul says, "whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" (Phil 4:8). Helped by God's grace, a Christian should strive to cleanse his heart and acquire this purity, the reward for which is the vision of God.

5:9. The translation "peacemakers" well conveys the active meaning of the original text—those who foster peace, in themselves and in others and, as a basis for that, try to be reconciled and to reconcile others with God. Being at peace with God is the cause and the effect of every kind of peace. Any peace on earth not based on this divine peace would be vain and misleading. "They shall be called sons of God": this is an Hebraicism often found in Sacred Scripture; it is the same as saying "they will be sons of God". St John's first letter (3:1) provides a correct exegesis of this Beatitude: "See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are".

5:10. What this Beatitude means, then, is: blessed are those who are persecuted because they are holy, or because they are striving to be holy, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. Thus, blessed is he who suffers persecution for being true to Jesus Christ and who does so not only patiently but joyfully. Circumstances arise in a Christian's life that call for heroism—where no compromise is admissible: either one stays true to Jesus Christ whatever the cost in terms of reputation, life or possessions, or one denies him. St Bernard (Sermon on the Feast of All Saints) says that the eighth Beatitude is as it were the prerogative of Christian martyrs. Every Christian who is faithful to Jesus' teaching is in fact a "martyr" (a witness) who reflects or acts in accordance with this Beatitude, even if he does not undergo physical death.

5:11-12. The Beatitudes are the conditions Jesus lays down for entering the Kingdom of heaven. This verse, in a way summing up the preceding ones, is an invitation to everyone to put this teaching into practice. The Christian life, then, is no easy matter, but it is worthwhile, given the reward that Jesus promises.

Gospel Reflection

Mountains are majestic. They awe us. They inspire us. They draw us. Mountains are ever changing in our beholding—sunrise and sunset bathe them in different lights and colors; winter and summer clothe them in different array; storms and wind wrap them in tremor. No wonder in biblical imagery mountaintops are places of theophany—places where God reveals the divine Self to human beings. The sublime majesty of mountains draws us to the ineffable majesty of the God who creates, who blesses, who draws to Self those who are drawn to seek the One who is good beyond all measure, is holy beyond all reckoning, is caring beyond all imagining. It is no accident that the Gospel of Matthew has Jesus go “up the mountain,” traditionally a place associated with divine encounter, to teach the Beatitudes to his disciples. The Beatitudes reveal the very Being of God (“Blessed,” holy), God’s care for God’s beloved people (“poor in spirit,” “those who mourn,” etc.), God’s intent for faithful ones (“theirs is the kingdom of heaven”). The Beatitudes reveal the mind and heart of God. Those who have encountered God and lived the Beatitudes have the same mind and heart. We call them “saints.” There is a countless multitude of saints in heaven, “wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands” (first reading), endlessly singing God’s praises. There is a countless multitude of saints here among us who “are God’s children now” (second reading) who have embraced the beatific, Godlike way of living. While this feast day primarily honors the saints who have gone before us, we cannot forget ourselves on this day. They have gone where we hope to go. There are many ways to be blessed. One of the attractions of honouring saints is that they offer a great deal of variety and richness of life for us to emulate. No matter what situation in life we find ourselves or what difficulty we face, some Saint offers us a model for perseverance in our blessedness and the assurance of care. This solemnity reminds us that our life of blessedness rests on an intimate relationship with God and each other expressed through enduring bonds of mutual care, mercy, humility, and self-giving.

Living the Paschal Mystery

We often think of the saints as out-of-this-world holy people who are far beyond our own experience or sense of our own goodness. When we pray the Litany of All Saints (for example, before the baptisms during the Easter Vigil) we ask the intercession of very many saints who lived centuries ago in a very different time and culture. They seem far away. This solemnity reminds us that at one time they were ordinary people just like us, living ordinary lives in faithfulness to Gospel values. This festival is one of encouragement—God doesn’t judge us only on our weaknesses but on our persevering in a willingness to live as God’s blessed children. The simple, everyday things we do well wash us in the blood of the Lamb (see first reading). Our smile is a saintly one. Our gesture of kindness is an expression of blessedness. Our humility is Godlike. Others’ holy gestures toward us are reminders that there is glory awaiting us. To each of us who embraces our blessedness: ours “is the kingdom of heaven.”

Old and New Testament links

First Reading — Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14

2I, John, saw another angel rising where the sun rises, carrying the seal of the living God; he called in a powerful voice to the four angels whose duty was to devastate land and sea, 3‘Wait before you do any damage on land or at sea or to the trees, until we have put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.’ 4Then I heard how many were sealed: a hundred and forty-four thousand, out of all the tribes of Israel. 9After that I saw a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language; they were standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands. They shouted aloud, 10‘Victory to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’ 11And all the angels who were standing in a circle round the throne, surrounding the elders and the four animals, prostrated themselves before the throne, and touched the ground with their foreheads, worshipping God 12with these words, ‘Amen. Praise and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and strength to our God for ever and ever. Amen.’ 13One of the elders then spoke, and asked me, ‘Do you know who these people are, dressed in white robes, and where they have come from?’ 14I answered him, ‘You can tell me, my lord.’ Then he said, ‘These are the people who have been through the great persecution, and they have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb.’

Responsorial Reading — Psalm 23:1-6

R : Such are the men who seek your face, O Lord.

The Lord’s is the earth and its fullness, the world and all its peoples. It is he who set it on the seas; on the waters he made it firm.

Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place? The man with clean hands and pure heart, who desires not worthless things.

He shall receive blessings from the Lord and reward from the God who saves him. Such are the men who seek him, seek the face of the God of Jacob.

Second Reading — 1 John 3:1-3

1Think of the love that the Father has lavished on us, by letting us be called God’s children; and that is what we are. Because the world refused to acknowledge him, therefore it does not acknowledge us. 2My dear people, we are already the children of God but what we are to be in the future has not yet been revealed; all we know is, that when it is revealed we shall be like him because we shall see him as he really is. 3Surely everyone who entertains this hope must purify himself, must try to be as pure as Christ.

Catechism of The Catholic Church

520 In all of his life Jesus presents himself as our model. He is "the perfect man",(GS 38; cf. Rom 1 5:5; Phil 2:5) who invites us to become his disciples and follow him. In humbling himself, he has given us an example to imitate, through his prayer he draws us to pray, and by his poverty he calls us to accept freely the privation and persecutions that may come our way.(Cf. Jn 13:15; Lk 11:1; Mt 5:11-12)

544 The kingdom belongs to the poor and lowly, which means those who have accepted it with humble hearts. Jesus is sent to "preach good news to the poor";(Lk 4:18; cf. 7:22) he declares them blessed, for "theirs is the kingdom of heaven."(Mt 5:3) To them - the "little ones" the Father is pleased to reveal what remains hidden from the wise and the learned.(Cf. Mt 11:25) Jesus shares the life of the poor, from the cradle to the cross; he experiences hunger, thirst and privation.(Cf. Mt 21:18; Mk 2:23-26; Jn 4:6 1; 19:28; Lk 9:58) Jesus identifies himself with the poor of every kind and makes active love toward them the condition for entering his kingdom.(Cf. Mt 25:31-46)

581 The Jewish people and their spiritual leaders viewed Jesus as a rabbi.(Cf Jn 11:28; 3:2; Mt 22:23-24, 34-36) He often argued within the framework of rabbinical interpretation of the Law.(Cf. Mt 12:5; 9:12; Mk 2:23-27; Lk 6:6-g; Jn 7:22-23) Yet Jesus could not help but offend the teachers of the Law, for he was not content to propose his interpretation alongside theirs but taught the people "as one who had authority, and not as their scribes".(Mt 7:28-29) In Jesus, the same Word of God that had resounded on Mount Sinai to give the written Law to Moses, made itself heard anew on the Mount of the Beatitudes.(Cf. Mt 5:1) Jesus did not abolish the Law but fulfilled it by giving its ultimate interpretation in a divine way: "You have heard that it was said to the men of old. . . But I say to you. . ."(Mt 5:33-34) With this same divine authority, he disavowed certain human traditions of the Pharisees that were "making void the word of God".(Mk 7:13; cf. 3:8)

1716 The Beatitudes are at the heart of Jesus' preaching. They take up the promises made to the chosen people since Abraham. The Beatitudes fulfill the promises by ordering them no longer merely to the possession of a territory, but to the Kingdom of heaven:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.(Mt 5:3-12)

1720 The New Testament uses several expressions to characterize the beatitude to which God calls man: - the coming of the Kingdom of God;(Cf. Mt 4:17) - the vision of God: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God"(Mt 5:8; cf. 1 Jn 2; 1 Cor 13:12) - entering into the joy of the Lord;(Mt 25:21-23) - entering into God's rest(Cf. Heb 4:7-11)

There we shall rest and see, we shall see and love, we shall love and praise. Behold what will be at the end without end. For what other end do we have, if not to reach the kingdom which has no end?(St. Augustine, De civ. Dei 22, 30, 5: PL 41,804)

2305 Earthly peace is the image and fruit of the peace of Christ, the messianic "Prince of Peace."(Isa 9:5) By the blood of his Cross, "in his own person he killed the hostility,"(Eph 2:16 J.B.; cf. Col 1:20-22) he reconciled men with God and made his Church the sacrament of the unity of the human race and of its union with God. "He is our peace."(Eph 2:14) He has declared: "Blessed are the peacemakers."(Mt 5:9)

2330 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Mt 5:9).

2518 The sixth beatitude proclaims, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."(Mt 5:8) "Pure in heart" refers to those who have attuned their intellects and wills to the demands of God's holiness, chiefly in three areas: charity;(Cf. 1 Tim 4:3-9; 2 Tim 2:22) chastity or sexual rectitude;(Cf. 1 Thess 4:7; Col 3:5; Eph 4:19) love of truth and orthodoxy of faith.(Cf. Titus 1:15; 1 Tim 1:3-4; 2 Tim 2:23-26) There is a connection between purity of heart, of body, and of faith:

The faithful must believe the articles of the Creed "so that by believing they may obey God, by obeying may live well, by living well may purify their hearts, and with pure hearts may understand what they believe."(St. Augustine, Defide et symbolo 10, 25: PL 40, 196)

2546 "Blessed are the poor in spirit."(Mt 5:3) The Beatitudes reveal an order of happiness and grace, of beauty and peace. Jesus celebrates the joy of the poor, to whom the Kingdom already belongs(Cf. Lk 6:20)

The Word speaks of voluntary humility as "poverty in spirit"; the Apostle gives an example of God's poverty when he says: "For your sakes he became poor."(St. Gregory of Nyssa, De beatitudinibus 1: PG 44, 1200D; cf. 2 Cor 8:9)

Sharing and Discussion

1. Which category of people Jesus lists would you like to be included in? Why? Which category would you most like to avoid being included? 2. Who is the saint whom you most admire ? Can you associate him/her in any aspect of living the beautitudes ? 3. How does the promise of Jesus helps you in living the demands of the beautitudes ?

Closing Prayer

All: God of blessing, you share your divine life with us and call us to lives of holiness. Be with us as we model our lives after the saints and live our holiness in the simple actions of our daily lives. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Leader: May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life.

All: Amen

Bible Sharing – Every Wednesday Ve nue : Church of The Holy Cross (Room03-06) Time : 8pm-9.30pm All are welcome !

For more information contact: George Chee - 9739 9216 ([email protected]) Aaron Tan - 8228 9138 ([email protected])

References: The Navarre Bible – Commentaries; Living Liturgy – Liturgical Ministry, The Liturgical Press; Emmaus Journey – www.emmausjourney.org