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Today, 21st of November, we celebrate
The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
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."
R./ 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.
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.
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain. He sat down and his disciples gathered around him. Then he spoke and began to teach them:
"Fortunate are those who have the spirit of the poor,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Fortunate are those who mourn, they shall be comforted.
"Fortunate are the gentle, they shall possess the land.
"Fortunate are those who hunger and thirst for justice,
for they shall be satisfied.
"Fortunate are the merciful, for they shall find mercy.
"Fortunate are those with a pure heart, for they shall see God.
"Fortunate are those who work for peace,
they shall be called children of God.
"Fortunate are those who are persecuted for the cause of justice,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Fortunate are you, when people insult you
and persecute you and speak all kinds of evil against you
because you are my followers.
Be glad and joyful, for a great reward is kept for you in God.
This is how this people persecuted the prophets
who lived before you."
Saints next door?
Today it has become fashionable to speak of the saints next door. That is, those who, in their daily lives, remain faithful to their friendship with God in the midst of the little things of daily life. One might say that these characters (often mothers) of ordinary life, who go shopping, make their beds and meals, and patiently wait for the return of their children while they unravel the beads of the rosary, are not much like the glorious countless multitude of those who “come out of the great tribulation”. Or to those blessed poor, persecuted, merciful, struggling for justice?
But great tribulation and little tribulation are very similar. Sometimes it is the little ones that are the hardest to endure because they have no glamour or apparent importance. But that daily martyrdom, that drop of blood, also counts to wash and whiten the robe in the blood of the Lamb. Then that march of the 144,000 (12,000 times the tribes of Israel that support our house), or the countless multitude, is strongly felt day after day. We see them passing by our side or strolling through our own soul, and sometimes we do not realize it. They are the ones who can echo John’s astonished expression: “See what love God has bestowed on us by calling us His children. And so we are!
Whether as obscure neighbors next door or as part of the heroic march of those who come from the great persecution, of the heroes of persecution, of bloody martyrdom, or of the great virtues, we are called to this march of the saints: with our own daily blood or with the heroism of the most difficult and impossible moments.
Today we celebrate above all the holiness of God who consecrates his children and makes them his own. We celebrate the blood of the Lamb who, in our baptism, whitens our whole garment and calls us to continue whitening it in every tribulation, great or small.
Carmen AguinacoReadings:
Rev 7:2-4, 9-14; Ps 24:1-2,3-4,5-6 ;1 Jn 3:1-3; Mt 5:1-12
To all of you who are God's beloved
and called to be saints,
grace and peace from God our Father
and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord's peace stay with you. R/ And also with you.
On this celebration of All Saints, we ask ourselves: What is our idea of saints? Are they to us idealistic dreamers out of touch with the world and with people, passive and joyless like their plaster statues? Today's liturgy tells us a different story. They are ordinary people like us, of the same flesh and blood as we. But they had the courage to be different, to do the ordinary things of life in the extraordinary way of Christ from whom they drew their courage. They put us to shame with their quiet but strong gentleness, their integrity, their commitment to God and to people in justice and truth and peace. Let us ask the Lord here with us for the strength to follow him the way they did.
Do we firmly believe that we sinners
are called to be saints?
Let us examine ourselves.
(PAUSE)
Lord, you tell us: Happy the poor in spirit.
We have heard you, but it is hard to do.
On our self-sufficiency and selfishness,
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Christ, you tell us: Happy the merciful.
But the miseries of others affect us little.
On our hardness and unconcern,
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.
Lord, you tell us: Happy the peacemakers.
We do not easily share the peace
of forgiveness and committed service.
On our pride and violence,
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.
Have mercy on us, Lord,
and forgive us all our sins.
Give us the courage to live your gospel
and lead us to everlasting life. R/ Amen.
Let us pray to God
that the saints may inspire us
to follow Christ as they did
(PAUSE)
God of hope and Lord of the future,
through the saints you inspire us today
with new hopes in the future
of the world and of people.
Make us realize, Lord,
that with your strength
our boldest dreams can come true
and even be surpassed:
that justice, peace and love
are worth living and dying for,
and that one day
you will crown your own work in us
through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
First Reading Introduction: Victors With Christ
St. John gives us a vision of hope in the ultimate future: those who live the gospel of will be victorious with him; their number will be immense.
Second Reading Introduction: Children of God
The key to all holiness is love: the certainty that God loves us - he loved us first - and that we are his sons and daughters. This assurance makes us capable of all hope and love.
Gospel Introduction: The Beatitudes: God's Values
The values of the gospel differ sharply from those of the world, yet they are to be lived in the world to make it God's world. The beatitudes are the inspiration of a Christian's life.
We are called children of God, and that is what we really are. Let us pray then in all trust and love to God, who is our Father, and let us say: R/ Lord of glory, hear our prayer.
- For all people on earth, that their friendship, love and happiness may be a sign and foretaste of the eternal happiness that you want to give to all, let us pray:
- For all Christian Churches, that they may grow in solidarity and come closer in unity, let us pray:
- For those who suffer from poverty and misfortunes, from persecution and injustice, that they may be convinced that Christ is on their side, let us pray:
- For those who lack the courage to break with temptation and sin and for those who dare not commit themselves to follow the gospel of Christ, that the saints may inspire them and us, let us pray:
- For all of us here, that we may build community, and that the seeds of holiness may grow in our hearts and deeds, let us pray:
- For our beloved dead, that they may rest secure in the love and joy of the Lord, let us pray:
Lord our God, you want us to be happy with your own happiness. Fill our everyday lives with your saving presence. Make us seek the kind of happiness that is real and lasting today, tomorrow and for ever. R/ Amen.
Lord our God,
Jesus, your Son, had the courage
to be different and unconventional.
In this bread and this wine
we place our willingness to walk in his way.
As you change them through your Spirit
into Jesus himself,
transform us, weak as we are and timid,
into new people, ready to take the risk
of reshaping the world into your own image.
And though we cannot yet see the outcome now,
reassure us that you will bring to a successful end
what you let us begin in pain and effort,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
It is with joy that we thank the Father for the great things his grace has worked in our brothers and sisters, the saints. Let us offer this eucharist with Jesus that, like the saints, we may try to become more like him.
God has filled our hearts with much love.
He wants us to be called his children,
and this is indeed what we are.
And so with Jesus we can truly say to him: R/ Our Father...
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil
and grant us peace in our day.
Give us the courage to go with the saints
the way your own Son went to you,
in joys and hardships,
in the strength of our weakness,
as we wait in joyful hope
for the coming in glory
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...
This is the Lamb of God
who shared our sufferings
to make us share in his glory.
Happy are those
who hunger and thirst for God,
for they shall be satisfied. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...
Holy God,
gentleness, integrity, reconciliation,
poverty and littleness before you,
suffering that is liberating -
these are not easy to put into practice,
yet they are the stuff of which saints are made.
Give us your strength, Lord,
for we ourselves are incapable
of carrying out a task made for giants.
Give us your Son
to be our companion on the journey,
for we are sure that we can do it with him,
who is our Savior and our Lord for ever. R/ Amen.
The saints were people like us,
weak, with faults like the ones we have;
only, they did not take these failings for granted.
They led the same lives as we do,
only in a more courageous way.
We are called to the same holiness
to which God called them.
May you respond to God's call
with the strength and blessing
of the almighty and loving God:
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Let us go with the saints and with one another
the way to God. R/ Thanks be to God.
