Celebrating All Saints Day on XXXI Domingo, A - an Eschatological Vision of the Growing Communion of Saints, Face to Face with the Triune God

 All Saints Day Scripture Reading Summary:

While the First Reading (Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14) gives an eschatological vision of the Saints, who are in the great multitude, standing before the throne and Christ the Lamb, strong and resilient to have endured challenges, and pure, to say the least, the Gospel Reading (Matthew 5:1-12a) reminds that the Saints have been beatified first by the loving God amidst their challenges in life. The Second Reading (1 John 3:1-3) tells that the Saints are also children of God, who have latched their hope in Christ and become pure like Christ. And the Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6 ) reflects and sings our hearts’ desire to become saints – to receive His blessing and to see God in person in His holy place, having become pure.

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This year, 2020, the 31^st Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A, coincides with All Saints Day. Usually, when a Saint’s feast day falls on Sunday, Mass is celebrated according to the Sunday Missal. No feast celebration Mass for a Saint.

Sunday is Lord’s Day for Christians– Domingo. It is Christian Sabbath to be kept holy (Exodus 20:8; cf. Dies Domini). No Saint can take a day of the Lord (Domingo) as he is greater than any Saints. However, our Lord Jesus Christ is kind and gracious to let All Saints have their feast celebrated even it falls on his day.  So, we are celebrating All Saints Day in place of the XXXI Domingo.

Those who are honored and celebrated on All Saints Day are not limited to the canonized Saints but countless anonymous saints.  According to the First Reading (Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14), the countless Saints are described as the great multitude from all nations, representing every culture, language, race, and so forth. The

Saints we honor and celebrate are from and of all nations (Revelation 7:9). Does this ring a bell to connect it to elsewhere in the Scriptures?

When the risen Jesus made the apostolic commissioning for his disciples just before his ascension, he commanded them to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). And, as described in Revelation 7:9, the Saints in the great multitudes are from every nation, tribe, people and language. It means that the Saints are also disciples first, just like Peter, James, and John, and other fishermen in Capernaum were and any of us, who have been baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and ben catechized with the Word.

Making disciples of all nations, people of all races, languages, cultures, and so forth, as commanded by Jesus, when the first group of the Disciples is to be made into the first batch of the Apostles, also symbolized with the 153 large fish caught in the net that Peter dragged (John 21:11; cf. Ezekiel 47:10), as the number 153 is believed to represent all nations at that time.  And, Peter, the chief of the Apostles was made into a fisher of men and women (Matthew 4:19; Luke 5:10). The fish caught in the net of Peter the fisherman by the Apostles, starting with Peter’s Pentecost Speech (Acts 2:14-41) were the early disciples bound for the sainthood.  And, this net of Peter has been passed on to us since we said “Yes” to Jesus’ call for an apostolic life out of our own volition for the Sacrament of Confirmation, receiving the Holy Spirit to be empowered and Jesus’ commissioning commandment in Matthew 28:19.

We are altogether in making potential saints through our apostolic life, sharing the Word in Jesus’ Gospel with joy, as light and salt of the world (Matthew 5:13-16). This way, we are also bound to become saints, together with those whom we reach out on our apostolic missions, as the original Apostles had done. And, this is how the Communion of Saints, namely, the Church, have been formed and continues to grow to become the Bride of Christ (Revelation 19:6-9; cf. Ephesians 5:22-27).

The First Reading also describes another important factor of Saints. And it is the fact that they have endured the period of great tribulations (Revelation 7:14)

According to the Book of Revelation, the period of the great trials comes as three sevenfold challenges: the seven seals opened by the Lamb; the seven trumpets by seven angels; the seven bowels by seven angels, spanning from chapter 6 to 16. Then, all the enemies of Christ the Lamb and his Church (his Bride, the Communion of Saints) will come out and exposed and fall (Revelation 17-18), followed by the matrimonial union of Christ the Lamb, victorious King of the Universe, and his Bride, the Church born on Pentecost, the Communion of Saints (Revelation 19), destruction of Satan and all his guilty collaborators in the Lake of Fire, namely, the hell (Revelation 20), and entering into the Kingdom, New Jerusalem, New Eden - the happy end of our exodus journey of faith (Revelation 21-22). This is our destiny as saints, joining those who have gone before us, becoming Saints, standing before Christ the King, the Lamb of God, and his throne, seeing the face of God the Father, in the presence of the Holy Spirit. This is upon the nuptial union of Christ and His Bride and union of the children of God with God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as Jesus desires (John 14:20; 17:21).

The journey from being disciples by becoming children of God through the Sacrament of Baptism to become apostles through the Sacrament of Confirmation to the sainthood is rather a long journey, which can take far longer than entire lifespan on earth. And, many of us may have to go through Purgatory to assure the purity – completely washing our robes with the blood of Christ the Lamb (Revelation 7:14; 22:14), while going through refining trials (i.e. 1 Peter 1:7; Isaiah 48:10).

Basically, the First Reading tells that Saints, who are worthy to stand before Christ and his throne are the faithful disciples, as well as apostles, having made themselves clean and pure, as symbolized with the white robe, washed by the blood of Christ, and refined by trials and tribulations, including persecution.

The Gospel Reading picks and reflects those who are bound to become saints but amidst trials and tribulations. It also assures that their struggles during trials and tribulations in the world are not in vain but that God is blessing them. These words in the First Reading are the opening kerygma of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and he spoke of the Beatitudes – the blessedness – what it means to be blessed. And, this beatification is what all Saints had received on their way through series of trials and tribulations, refining themselves to be pure and to become Saints.

I   Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

II  Blessed are they who mourn,

for they will be comforted.

III Blessed are the meek,

for they will inherit the land.

IV Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousnes,

for they will be satisfied.

V  Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy.

VI  Blessed are the clean of heart, 

for they will see God.

VII Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they will be called children of God.

VIII Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,

for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.

(IX ) 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.   Matthew 5:1-12

There are eight types of the faithful disciples and apostles reflected in Jesus’ statement of the Beatitudes: those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek, those who seek righteousness (justice), those who are merciful, those who are of clean heart, those who are dedicated to make peace, and those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness of God (God’s justice) and because of Christ. Notice that Jesus did not say, blessed are the rich and powerful and those who feel “happy”. This reminds us that blessedness (beatitude) in the eyes of God and “happiness” in a worldly sense are not necessarily the same.

 In fact, these eight representative types of beatified faithful disciples and apostles are struggling and fighting for justice of God – the righteousness and doing the works of mercy in their observation of the commandment of love. So, they are humble (poor in spirit) and gentle (meek) and compassionate enough to mourn with those who mourn.

These eight types of beatified ones, reflected in the Gospel Reading also reflect Ecclesia militans (the Church fighting against evil forces) and Ecclesia poenitens (the suffering Church) before becoming Ecclesia triumphans (the triumphant Church).

 God blesses Ecclesia militans and Ecclesia poenitens, as the Gospel Reading reflects. And, as Jesus said, the Church will enjoy great reward for going through the fighting for God’s justice and defending the truth in Christ’s teaching and enduring suffering through the refining trials and tribulations. And the First Reading gives an eschatological vision of Ecclesia triumphans, which is a preview to what is envisioned from Revelation 19 on. 

 The Gospel Reading on the Beatitudes also promises the rewards given to those who are beatified amidst their struggles in fighting and suffering on their way to the victorious sainthood to stand before the victorious Christ the King and his throne. They will enjoy the rewards of comfort, mercy, fullness, and the privilege to be the children of God in order to inherit the Kingdom that Christ reigns, where they also see the face of God.

 The Second Reading (1 John 3:1-3) picks on purity from the First Reading, symbolized with the white robe, washed by the blood of the Lamb, worn by the multitude of Saints (Revelation 7:14) and one of the eight types of those who are beatified, as reflected in the Gospel Reading – those who are blessed for their pure hearts (Matthew 5:8).

 This purity is a mark of the children of God, who steadfastly anchors their hope in Christ, according to Paul in the Second Reading. Being the children of God is a character of those who are blessed to make peace, as reflected in the Gospel Reading (Matthew 5:9). Hope in Christ also goes with forbearance to endure trials and tribulation to be refined for purity, which become a new character, moving from Ecclesia militans and Ecclesia poenitens to Ecclesia triumphans, as Paul indicates in Romans 5:3-4.

 As written in 1 Corinthians 13:13, hope goes along with faith and love to make up the theological virtues, in which love is above the other two virtues. Faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:9), and we wait for the hope of justice by faith through the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:5), and God of hope will fill us with peace and joy as a result of believing that we may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13). And, peace and joy that God of hope will fill us through our conviction for the Holy Spirit to keep us in hope also come with love, as well as patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, as all of these are in the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

 Being the children of God, anchoring hope in Christ, empowered by the Holy Spirit, receiving faith as a gift of the Holy Spirit, filled with peace, joy, and love, as well as patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, as the fruit of the Holy Spirit, we long to see God face to face (1 John 3:2), and this is reflected and sung in the Responsorial Psalm’s refrain: Lord, this is the people that longs to see your face, a song of those who are of pure heart (Psalm 24:4). And Jesus has said, “Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God  (Matthew 5:8).

 And, yes, when those who are beatified amidst of their fight and tribulations for God’s justice and truth, for their purity, endure and make it all the way to the sainthood, not only they stand before Christ the King and his throne but also see God face to face (Revelation 22:4)?

Wouldn’t we want to meet our Maker and Love, face to face? If so, then, we shall not lose our hope in the shuffles of trials and tribulations but endure with forbearance until we celebrate the victory and attain the necessary purity to become the Bride of Christ and complete Communion of Saints, filled with the fruit of the Holy Spirit, especially love.