Tuesday, November 01, 2011 {All Saints (Solemnity)}

REFLECTION FOR TODAY
The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.
-- Pope St. Gregory the Great

READINGS FOR TODAY
First Reading: Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14
(The Enormous Crowd)
2 And I saw another angel coming up from the east with the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels to whom God had given the power to damage the earth and the sea.
3 The angel said, “Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees, until we mark the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.”
4 And I was told that the number of those who were marked with God's seal on their foreheads was 144,000. They were from the twelve tribes of Israel,

9 After this I looked, and there was an enormous crowd—no one could count all the people! They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood in front of the throne and of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.

10 They called out in a loud voice: “Salvation comes from our God, who sits on the throne, and from the Lamb!”

11 All the angels stood around the throne, the elders, and the four living creatures. Then they threw themselves face downward in front of the throne and worshiped God,

12 saying, “Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanksgiving, honor, power, and might belong to our God forever and ever! Amen!”

13 One of the elders asked me, “Who are these people dressed in white robes, and where do they come from?”

14 “I don't know, sir. You do,” I answered.

He said to me, “These are the people who have come safely through the terrible persecution. They have washed their robes and made them white with the blood of the Lamb.

Psalms: Psalm 24:1-6
(The Great King)

1 The world and all that is in it belong to the Lord; the earth and all who live on it are his.

2 He built it on the deep waters beneath the earth and laid its foundations in the ocean depths.

3 Who has the right to go up the Lord's hill? Who may enter his holy Temple?

4 Those who are pure in act and in thought, who do not worship idols or make false promises.

5 The Lord will bless them and save them; God will declare them innocent.

6 Such are the people who come to God, who come into the presence of the God of Jacob.

Second Reading: 1 John 3:1-3
(Children of God)

1 See how much the Father has loved us! His love is so great that we are called God's children—and so, in fact, we are. This is why the world does not know us: it has not known God.

2 My dear friends, we are now God's children, but it is not yet clear what we shall become. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he really is.

3 Everyone who has this hope in Christ keeps himself pure, just as Christ is pure.

Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12
(The Sermon on the Mount)

1 Jesus saw the crowds and went up a hill, where he sat down. His disciples gathered around him,

2 and he began to teach them:

(True Happiness)

3 “Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!

4 “Happy are those who mourn; God will comfort them!

5 “Happy are those who are humble; they will receive what God has promised!

6 “Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires; God will satisfy them fully!

7 “Happy are those who are merciful to others; God will be merciful to them!

8 “Happy are the pure in heart; they will see God!

9 “Happy are those who work for peace; God will call them his children!

10 “Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them!

11 “Happy are you when people insult you and persecute you and tell all kinds of evil lies against you because you are my followers.

12 Be happy and glad, for a great reward is kept for you in heaven. This is how the prophets who lived before you were persecuted.