"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience," (Col 3:12)

03 November 2023

1 November - Solemnity of All Saints

Reading 1 Rv7:2-4, 9-14

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."

Reading 2 1Jn3:1-3

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.

Gospel Mt 5:1-12a

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 youand utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me.

Rejoice and be glad,for your reward will be great in heaven."

All saints, those from litany, the Bible, who did marvelous deeds, but also those who were simple, thousands, billions unknown for the history of the world but known for God. we admire them, their heroism of faith. We look with incredulity on their lives saying in the depths of our hearts: I would like to be like them. I want to be like St. John Paul II, St. Faustina, St. Mother Teresa. Sometimes I think about the Saints like they were form space, I imagine that every saint is a superhero, perfect, without any weakness. comparing with them I’m small like an ant, almost invisible in their radiance. I would like to be like them, what does it mean. For God there is no: I would like to, but I want to, I want to be like them. Sanctity is not a product reserved for special ones, it is not a God’s vaccine prepared for selected ones making their lives free from sin. Sanctity is an invitation from God addressed to me to be His reflection in my everyday life, to fight for His grace, to bear the sufferings and difficulties, to brake my selfishness and to stay faithful to God in good and difficult situations. Jesus is speaking about this the Gospel: blessed are those who are poor in spirit, it means those who depend on God in everything; blessed are those who mourn especially upon their sins, who confess them with sincerity and regret; blessed are the merciful, because they don’t close their hearts for the poor and needy; blessed are those who are persecuted for the cause of justice, who don’t pay evil for evil, but know how to forgive even when they suffer. These are the realities that define the sanctity. Putting them on your life you will understand that saint are not someone detached from the ground but walking on it, constantly and patiently having his eyes turned to the sky, because he knows that his home is there, where God is waiting, loving Father, full of mercy and consolation. We read in the letter to the Ephesians: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens as he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will. God chose me before the creation of the world, God chose you to be holy, do you really hear these words? God knew you before the existence of this world, it’s awesome, isn’t it? Tell me my brother and sister: how many times did you think about your sanctity, about your uniqueness in the eyes of God? And now the other question: how many times did you think about your sins, that you nobody, that God will not forgive your weakness? I’m a sinner, you are a sinner, that’s true, but your sinless cannot cover your sanctity, cannot enslave your beautiful spirit pushing him in hopelessness. You can’t give up. Did you hear well the words from the second reading, I repeat them again: See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are. Do you hear that? You are the child of God, so you are great, so you are like Him: SAINT. Try to live as a saint and God will help you with His grace. The question is: would you like to or do you want to? Let’s look on our Mother, the most beautiful example of sanctity. Tell us Mary, how to become saints? Mary is showing us Jesus with her hand telling us: if you want to be saints, follow Jesus, you know how to do it, you are able to be faithful to Him. If you will go today to visit the graves of your loved ones don’t forget to think about your eternity but also your sanctity. Think about this life which passes and will end one day. Think about it because your eternity depends on how you live this life. I wish you and I hope that in your heart will always be this nostalgia for eternity, this desire to be holy.

Father Marcin Cwierz, OSPPE

Milosierni13@gmail.com

(+1) 908 476 1477