Solemnity of All Saints

First reading: Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 24
Second reading: 1 John 3:1-3
Gospel reading: Matthew 5:1-12a

"Be glad and rejoice, for your reward in heaven is great."

Since the Solemnity of All Saints coincides with the Sunday Mass,
we will reflect on the gospel of Matthew for All Saints' Day. The
passage from Matthew presents to us an image of Jesus as a "new
Moses", who goes up on the mountainside, and teaches His disciples
the "charter of holiness" - the Beatitudes. Jesus emphasizes how
every disciple of His kingdom will be blessed if they are: poor
in spirit, mournful and in sorrow, lowly and meek, hungry and
thirsting for holiness, merciful, pure and single-hearted,
peacemakers, and persecuted for holiness' sake. Jesus encourages
these "saints" of His kingdom that their reward in heaven is
great.

In his book, "From One Jesus to Four Gospels", Herman Hendrickx
teaches us that the four traditional beatitudes (the poor, those
who hunger and thirst, those who mourn and are sorrowful, and the
persecuted) are joined with four other beatitudes (the meek, the
merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers) in Matthew's
version (because the evangelist Luke also has a version of the
Beatitudes). Hendrickx continues to add that these eight
beatitudes are really a list of virtues or attitudes, that are
to be practiced by all of us, who are invited to respond to the
universal call to holiness. Living these beatitudes will make
us true disciples of Christ in His kingdom.

All of us are aware of the reality of competition. Competition is
good if we bring out the best in ourselves and in others without
destroying the goodness of our competition. And we must also
place this reality of competition within the context of truth
that all of us have been created by the Father for a specific
role and task in the world - equally important and essential in
His eyes and a vital part in His divine plan. Jesus teaches us
eight paths to holiness where we can let His Light, and the power
of the Holy Spirit to shine through us, and make us be our best
for God. Whatever path we take, we have responded to His will
and His command to be "holy as the Father is holy". Let us
therefore thank the Father for the gift of His Son Jesus, from
whom we learn the pathways to sanctity and virtuous deeds and
actions. Let us also thank God for the gift of the many saints
and holy men and women in our Church, who attest to the truth
that holiness is possible if we pray for strength and fortitude,
have faith in the word of Christ and put it into action.

28th Sunday of the Year (B)

First reading: Wisdom 7:7-11
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 90
Second reading: Hebrews 4:12-13
Gospel reading: Mark 10:17-30

"There is one thing more you must do."

Still on the 10th chapter in the gospel of Mark, we are presented
with a passage about the story of the "rich young man". This man
came to Jesus and asked: "what must I do to share in everlasting
life?" When Jesus told the young man to obey the commandments,
the young man replied by saying that he has observed these since
his childhood. Then Jesus said, "there is one thing more you must
do. Go and sell what you have and give to the poor; you will then
have treasure in heaven. After that, come and follow Me." The
young man became sad, for he had many possessions.

Jesus and His apostles lived a very radical state of life: that
of poor itinerant missionaries, fully trusting in the Father's
providence. The gospels do not mention any "home" from which they
returned to after their missionary journeys. What the gospels
mention is that they dined and stayed in some houses: like that
of Simon the Pharisee; the house of Peter's mother-in-law; the
house of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus; and various other homes where
Jesus was requested to heal a sick member of the family. In their
missions, Jesus instructed His apostles and disciples to travel
light: "no food, no traveling bag, not a coin in the purse of
their belts...no second tunic (Mark 6:8-13)." The rich young man
probably had heard of how Jesus and His apostles lived as poor,
itinerant missionaries and therefore in practical terms, cannot
really "do that one more thing" required by Jesus.

This radical state of life Jesus lived is what our clergy and the
religious live - committing themselves totally to the service of
God in the Church. For many of us who chose the lay state of
life, we have to balance ourselves so that our spiritual life may
put in order the secular concerns of family and work. Some may
have the opportunity to "do that extra step" Jesus is asking, by
volunteering for the missions for a temporary period of time
(like one to two years). But the majority of us lay people have
to busy ourselves with building a family and a home. For this lay
state of life, one way to "do that one more thing", is to learn
how to have a holy indifference and a sense of detachment to
earthly things (as taught by St. Ignatius of Loyola): preferring
neither honor to dishonour, a long life to a short life, riches
to poverty, nor health to sickness. The context for this holy
indifference and detachment to earthly things is our grounding
in God - to serve and love Him above all. This is not an easy
step to take, but it is possible.

Let us thus take this opportunity to ask ourselves as we reflect
more deeply on the gospel: "Is my attachment to possessions
greater than my attachment to Jesus?" "What must I do so that my
attachment to Christ can help me have a holy indifference and a
sense of detachment to earthly things?"

25th Sunday of the Year (B)

First reading: Wisdom 2:12, 17-20
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 54
Second reading: James 3:16 - 4:3
Gospel reading: Mark 9:30-37

"Whoever welcomes a child such as this for My sake welcomes Me."

For the 25th Sunday of the Year (B), we are invited to reflect on
a passage in chapter 9 of Mark's gospel. Jesus repeats to His
disciples how He would soon be arrested, put to death, but three
days after rise again. Then when they journeyed back to their
home in Capernaum, the disciples were arguing among themselves
about who was the most important. Once they arrived the house,
and Jesus learned of what happened along the way, He sat down
and took the occasion to teach the TWelve: "If anyone wishes to
rank first, he must remain the last one of all and the servant
of all." Then taking a child beside Him, He said, "Whoever
welcomes a child such as this for My sake welcomes Me."

During the time of Jesus, women and children are not important in
their Jewish culture; only the men counted. That is why in the
miracle of the multiplication of the loaves, the head count was
made among the men - not counting women and children. As Jesus
preached and taught about the Kingdom of God, He created a
reversal of importance from the perspective of our relationship
with the Father. For Jesus, what is really important is the
childlike quality of complete and full trust in someone of higher
rank or authority. To enter the Kingdom of God, we are thus
called to be like children - having full confidence and faith in
One who wielded divine authority and power.

Power struggles and instability can happen in the family, when
its members are focused on other things besides God. Squabbles,
sibling rivalry, rebellion, abuse, disrespectfulness, and envy
results when the household forgets the one thing necessary: their
common faith relationship in God's authority. In relation to
this, that is why the tradition of enthroning the Sacred Heart of
Jesus in a home is vital, because it bring peace and harmony to
all the members of the household. The Sacred Heart reminds us all
that we have to love God above all things and with our whole
being; and to love our neighbor as ourself. Every family member
acknowledges that Jesus is central to their family life and place
their full trust in Him.

Let us therefore take this opportunity to reflect if we have
those childlike qualities Jesus is looking for in us. Do we place
our full trust and confidence in God as a child does to his
father? Or do we rely more on our own strength and intelligence
when we relate to our family and with others? Which direction is
telling me that I am welcoming Christ and His will that we be
children of God?