Thoughts on the All Saints Day lessons for Nov. 1, 2017 or the following Sunday
Les 144000 Elus – Apocalypse VII (“The 144,000 Elect, Revelation 7), illumination on parchment by the 11th century scribe Martinus. In the archives of the cathedral at Burgo de Osma, Spain.
(Click image to enlarge.)
In the apocalyptic vision of John of Patmos, the author of Revelation, we see all the saints, a countless multitude of every race and nation, all robed in white, gathered in John’s idea of the heavenly throne room. They have come together to praise the Lamb, Revelation’s allegorical image for Jesus as both sacrificed sheep and messianic shepherd; victim and victor in one, the loving protector who leads us as a single multitude that shows all Earth’s glorious diversity.
Psalm: Psalm 34:1-10, 22
The Psalmist speaks directly to the people, offering us wise counsel as imagined from King David’s thankful point of view after he had feigned madness to talk his way out of a deadly situation. Bless and praise God at all times; exalt God’s name, we are told. No matter who we are – saints or sinner, nobles or servant – we all join in worship and praise. We are small and humble. God is great and powerful. Yet when we are in trouble, when we are afraid, when we are hungry, we place our faith and trust in God and need not fear.
Second Reading: 1 John 3:1-3
The three short letters of John were probably not written by John the apostle, John the evangelist, nor John the author of Revelation. But these verses from the first letter of John do seem consistent with the theology of John’s Gospel. They celebrate the abundant love of God that showers on us and makes us all God’s children. The glory of our coming adulthood under God’s love remains to be revealed; but from the beginning, all of God’s children, all of God’s saints, are brothers and sisters through God’s creative love.
Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12
When Jesus reveals the Beatitudes in his Sermon on the Mount, he offers a promise of hope to those who are poor, those who mourn, the meek, the hungry and thirsty, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, the righteous, and the persecuted. “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven,” he calls out. But think about this: Is Jesus promising a heavenly kingdom, a reward that comes only after we die? Or is he foreseeing a kingdom of heaven on earth, a glorious kingdom that may appear when people begin to live the Beatitudes? If we consider all that the Gospels tell us Jesus said, we might hear him calling us to join in building a kingdom that comes on earth as it is in heaven.