Sunday:       ALL SAINTS' DAY
Date:         November 1, 2000
Year:         B
The readings: [Rev. 7:2-4, 9-14; 1 Jn. 3:1-3; Mt. 5:1-12]
The message:  Remembering the known and unknown saints.
Prepared by:  CATHOLIC DOORS MINISTRY
Total words:  1011

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Good morning my brothers and sisters in Christ. Today, we are celebrating "All Saints' Day" in honour of all the saints of the Church, those who are known and those who are unknown.

This feast provides us with the opportunity to reflect upon the holiness of the saints of all places and all times. It allows us to reflect upon the example of their persevering faith in Christ.

You may ask, "What do you mean by the known and unknown saints?" The known saints are those who are listed in the Liturgical Calendar of the Church, their holy lives being remembered once a year on a feast day that has been appointed by the Church. The unknown saints are those who since the beginning of time, qualified to be listed among the saints, but who have passed through this world without receiving worldly recognition.

Today is the day to remember them. It is the day to remember the baptized children who have died during their tender years, they qualifying as saints of Heaven. It is the day to remember the grandparents who have passed away, those who shined in love towards their brothers and sisters in Christ. It is a time to remember those who have been persecuted because of their living faith in Christ. It is a moment to remember those who tend to be forgotten so it will never be said that they have been forgotten.

How do we know who qualifies to be called saints and those who do not? The Gospel of Matthew tells us that when Jesus died on the Holy Cross [Mt. 17:50], "the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many." [Mt. 27:51-3] These saints, many of them being unknown, were those who lived a righteous life in the days of the Old Testament, those who righteously persevered in the Laws of Moses.

The New Testament provides us with the characteristics of those who qualify to be called saints. The saints are those who were sanctified in Christ Jesus, having called upon the name of Jesus Christ. [1 Cor. 1:2] They are those who had faith in the Lord Jesus and who shined in love towards all the saints. [Eph. 1:15; Col. 1:4; Phlm. 1:5] They are those who had been called to be saints and who answered their calling from God. [Rom. 1:7] They are those for who the Holy Spirit made intercession before God according to His Divine Will. [Rom. 8:27] They are the faithful believers who were persecuted and killed by St. Paul before his conversion. [Acts 9:13-4; 16:10]

The saints were undivided, having access by one Spirit to God the Father. They were not strangers and aliens, but citizens with the saints and also members of the household God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the Cornerstone. [Eph. 2:18-20]

The saints are those who received the love of God and who are now called children of God. The world did not know them because it did not know Jesus. As saints, they are God's children. What they will be like has not yet been revealed to us. What we do know is this, when it is revealed, they will be like Jesus as He is. All of them who had this hope in God purified themselves as the saints prior to their days purified themselves, so they may all be pure as God is pure. [1 Jn. 3:1-3]

In today's Gospel Reading, we heard the Words of Jesus that described the characteristics of the saints, what must be done for one to qualify to be called a child of God for the inheritance of the eternal Kingdom of Heaven. The saints are those who are poor in spirit. Embracing a spiritual attitude in all things, they are detached from the world, living in the world, but not of the world. While they are poor in this world, they find their joy and peace in their daily personal relationship with the Lord Jesus. Spiritually, they are rich!

The saints are those who mourn. They long for the day when they will receive their blessed hope, the day when they will be eternally united with Christ and their loved ones, the saints of the Church.

The saints are the meek, those who humble themselves before others, those who are willing to serve rather than be served.

The saints are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. They see the many wrongs in the world, some being victimized by them. They pray for peace and for their enemies.

The saints are the merciful, those who are willing to forgive the trespasses of others as God the Father forgives their trespasses. They understand the weaknesses of the human nature, they too being human. They seek to uplift and encourage their brothers and sisters in Christ so all may share in the eternal glory that awaits the saints.

The saints are the pure of heart. They see the goodness of God in all things. They perceived the progressive Divine Plan that sanctifies the souls for the glory of the Father.

The saints are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. Obligated to speak up against injustice, they are oppressed so they may be silenced. In some nations, some are beaten, some are imprisoned, and others, they are murdered.

The saints are those who are slandered and falsely accused of all kinds of evils because they promote the Sacred Words of Jesus and the eternal Kingdom that awaits the righteous.

My brothers and sisters, if these are your characteristics, rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. [Mt. 5:1-12] As we remember the saints today, you too will be remembered until the end of time because you will have become one of the many invisible saints who belong to the Mystical Body of Christ.

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The readings...

[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]

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First Reading...

"In my vision, I, John, saw an angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea, saying, 'Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads.'

And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty- four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel.

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!'

And all the angels stood around the throne, around the elders and the four living creatures; they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, singing, 'Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.'

Then one of the elders addressed me, 'Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?' I said to him, 'Sir, you are the one that knows,' Then he said to me, 'These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.'" [Rev. 7:2-4, 9-14]

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Second Reading...

"See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what 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 will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.

And all who have this hope in God purify themselves, just as he is pure." [1 Jn. 3:1-3]

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Gospel Reading...

"When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: 'Blessed are the poor of spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for their is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people 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. 5:1-12]

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