NOVEMBER 1: SOLEMNITY OF ALL SAINTS
The Human Face Of The Gospel
Greeting (Rom 1:7)
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. R/ And also with you.
Introduction by the Celebrant
Today, on the Feast of all Saints, we celebrate in a way our own feast: namely, what we have been called to be and what we hope to become and what so many have been before us - people who somehow embody Christ, who show a little of his face to others, men and women and children who make God visible and tangible and human. Not that we want to pull down God to our level, but that through our humanity we show a glimpse of God. It is so little we show of him, and we thank all the nameless people who brought others a bit nearer to God. Let us celebrate that victory with joy.
Penitential Act
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.
Opening Prayer
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 for and dying for,
and that one day
you will crown your own work in us
through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen, (or:)
First Reading: Rev 7:2-4, 9-14 Victors With Christ
St. John gives us a vision of hope in the ultimate future: those who live the Gospel of Christ will be victorious with him; their number will be immense.
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. (see 6) 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.
Second Reading • 1 Jn 3:1-3: 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 • Mt 5:1 —12a: The Beatitudes: God's Values
The values of the gospel differ sharply from those of the world, yet are to be lived in the world to make it God's world. The Beatitudes are the inspiration of a Christian's life.
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain,
and after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.
He began to teach them, saying:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are they who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the land.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be satisfied.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you
and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.
Rejoice and be glad,
for your reward will be great in heaven."
Intercessions
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.
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 and tomorrow and for ever. R/ Amen.
Pray Over the Gifts
Lord our God,
Jesus, your Son, had the courage
to be different and unconventional.
In this bread and wine
we place our willingness to follow 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.
Though we cannot yet see the outcome,
reassure us that you will bring to a successful end
what you let us begin in pain and effort.
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. R/ Amen.
Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer
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.
Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer
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 we can truly say to him: R/ Our Father...
Deliver Us
Deliver us, Lord, from every evil and grant us peace in our day.
Give us the courage to go with the saints
the way to you of your own Son,
in joys and hardships,
in the strength of our weakness,
as we wait in joyful hope
for the coming in glory
of our Savior Jesus Christ R/ For the kingdom...
Invitation to Communion
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, lam not worthy...
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
thanks to the sacrifice of your Son
the saints overcame evil
and built up a bit of your kingdom.
We have shared in his sacrifice today.
By his strength, build with us, weak and ordinary as we are, and make us in our world a leaven of gentleness and mercy, of joy and peace and justice.
For you can do all this in us through Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.
Blessing
We have rejoiced today
with all those, known and unknown,
who live for ever in God’s joy.
They were ordinary people just like us, weak,
with shortcomings and sins, y
et they took Christ and his Gospel seriously,
and thus they became to others a road sign to the Lord.
May the saints inspire you
and may God be your strength and bless you
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.
Go with one another the Lord’s way of love and peace. R/ Thanks be to God.
Reflection
November 1
Living in others’ memory
One of the most beautiful books to read is "Die Empty" by Todd Henry, who was inspired to write this book while attending a business conference. In a conference, the director asked the audience: "Which is the richest land in the world?" One answered: "Oil-rich Gulf states."Another added: "Diamond mines in Africa."
Then the director said: "It is the cemetery, which is the richest land in the world because millions of people have departed this world carrying many valuable ideas that did not come to light nor benefited others." So, Todd Henry in his book, "Die Empty" says, "Always choose to die empty of all the goodness that is within you. Deliver it to the world, before you leave.
The people we venerate today have shared and spread their every atom of goodness for others. Today, the mother church solemnises them as saints and invites us to remember them. Remembrance although is an act of mind, should become a deed in life. It is, therefore that Jesus, at the last supper, distributed himself as bread and wine and commanded his disciples to ‘do this in memory of me’.
So, by the traditions of the Catholic Church, the homage that we pay to the saints is not mere respect nor for intercessory but a celebration of our deep divine relationship with these saints.
It is true that the holy life is of the heaven, however, few individuals who tuned their lives according to God’s will on earth, uplifted others’ lives and let God’s face shine, thereby, earth at times became heaven. These saints are those who divinized humanity. Like they felt hurt when nature was hurt; saw the face of God in the smile of the poor; sowed compassion in the hearts of criminals; identified God in those who were in adversities; and sacrificed their lives to save human lives and rights.
As we remember such heroes today, we shall also be prepared to give heroic witness following their footsteps and partake in their joy. To make this earth into heaven, let’s start our race to die empty.
Hong Kong
