November 1, 2025
Solemnity of All Saints
Lectionary:
667
Reading
1
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."
Responsorial
Psalm
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.
Reading
2
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.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,
And I will give you rest, says the Lord.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
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."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110125.cfm
Commentary on
Revelation 7:2-4,9-14; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12
The Solemn Blessing prayed during the Mass for today’s Feast
of All Saints is:
God’s holy Church rejoices that her children are one with
the saints in lasting peace.
As we come to the end of the Church year we celebrate this
great feast of All Saints. It is important to emphasise from the beginning what
we mean here by ‘saints’. Normally we apply the word to people of extraordinary
holiness who have been canonised or beatified by the Church. Among them, each
one has their favourites: St Francis of Assisi, St Therese of Lisieux, St
Anthony, St Joseph, St Jude and so on.
But today’s feast uses the word ‘saints’ in a much wider
sense. It refers to all those baptised Christians who have died and are now
with God in glory. It also certainly includes all non-Christians who lived a
good life sincerely in accordance with the convictions of their conscience.
While we do not know how many people we are talking about, we know it is a very
large number. Putting it another way, there is no way we can decide which
people have made an irrevocable choice of rejecting what is true and good and
have chosen to be alienated from God forever. But hopefully, their number is
much smaller.
There is a third group which we will remember tomorrow, and
they are those who have died, but still need a process of purification before
they can come face to face with the all-holy God.
The Gospel chosen for today’s feast is interesting. It gives
us what we know as the Eight Beatitudes from the beginning of the Sermon on the
Mount. It is, in fact, a charter for holiness. When many people think of
holiness, they think of keeping the Ten Commandments and perhaps some other
requirements of the Church like going to Mass on Sundays or fasting during
Lent. What we often tend to forget is that the Ten Commandments really belong
to the Old Testament and are part of the Jewish law. Of course, they are still
valid and Jesus said clearly:
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the
Prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
(Matt 5:17)
We might say that the Beatitudes are an example of that
fulfilling. The Beatitudes go far beyond the Ten Commandments in what they
expect of a follower of Christ, and yet the sad thing is that one hears of
relatively few Christians saying that they base their lives on the Beatitudes.
When we go to confession it is the Ten Commandments we normally refer to and
not the Beatitudes. And this is sad, because it is clear from their position in
Matthew’s Gospel that the Beatitudes have a central place. They are a kind of
mission statement saying what kind of person the good Christian will be.
Let us look at them briefly, but first we need to clarify a
few of the terms used. The word ‘blessed’ is sometimes translated ‘happy’. It
might be more accurate to translate it as ‘fortunate’. In other words, people
who have these qualities are really in an envious position. All of these
beatitudes are indications that we belong to the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’. This is
to be understood not as a place, still less as referring to life after death.
It rather describes the kind of society that exists when we live according to
these values—a place of truth and love, of compassion and justice, of peace,
freedom and sharing.
The general message is that those are really blessed when
they know their dependence on God and on their sisters and brothers—when they
commit themselves totally to the Way that Christ invites them to follow.
The Gospel says that particularly blessed are:
- Those
who are poor in spirit: They are those who are aware of their
basic poverty and fragility and of how much they need the help and support
of God as opposed to those who foolishly claim independence and full
control of their lives.
- Those
who are meek: These are the people who reach out to others in
care and compassion and tenderness, who constantly are aware of the needs
of others.
- Those
who mourn: Those who are in grief or sorrow for whatever
reason will be assured of comfort from the loving community in Christ they
have entered.
- Those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness: Whatever the price,
these people will work that everyone will be given what is their due to
live a life of dignity and self-respect. The price they may have to pay
could be high, very high, even life itself.
- Those
who are merciful: They are the ones who extend compassion and
forgiveness to all around them.
- Those
who are pure in heart: This does not refer to sexual purity,
but rather to a simplicity and total absence of duplicity, prejudice or
bias. Not surprisingly, they are described as being able to see God. For
such people, God’s presence is all too obvious in every person and
experience.
- Those
who are peacemakers: This is perhaps one of the most beautiful
of the Beatitudes. These are people who help to break down the many
barriers which divide people—whether it is class, occupation, race,
religion, gender or anything that creates conflict between individuals or
groups. Not surprisingly, these people are called “children of God”. God
sent Jesus among us precisely to break down the barriers between God and
his people and between people themselves.
- Those
who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness: Persecution
of itself is not a pleasant experience, and may result in loss of life.
But blessed indeed are those who have the strength and courage to put the
values of truth and love and justice for all above their own survival.
Among the saints we most honour today are the martyrs, those who gave
their lives in the defence of truth, love and justice.
This is the kind of Christian we are all called to be. It is
these qualities which made the saints and which will make saints of us too.
They go far beyond what is required by the Ten Commandments. If taken
literally, the Commandments can be kept and not with great difficulty. Many of
them are expressed in the negative, “You shall not…” So we can observe them by
doing nothing at all! “I have not killed anyone… I have not committed adultery…
I have not stolen…” Does that make me a saint?
Being a Christian is a lot more than not doing things which
are wrong. The Beatitudes are expressed in positive terms. They also express
not just actions, but attitudes. In a way, they can never be fully observed. No
matter how well I try to observe them, I can always go further. They leave no
room for smugness, the kind of smugness the Pharisees had in keeping the Law.
The Beatitudes are a true and reliable recipe for sainthood.
The Second Reading reminds us today:
See what love the Father has given us, that we should be
called children of God, and that is what we are.
Saints are not self-made people. They are people who have
responded generously to the love of God showered on them. And the completion of
that love is to be invited to share life with God forever in the life to come.
The Second Reading also says:
…what we will be has not yet been revealed.
We do not know, and have no way of knowing, what that future
existence will be like, and it does not help very much to speculate. In fact,
some of the conventional images of heaven are not terribly exciting! Kneeling
on clouds and playing harps for eternity—partly derived from a too literal
reading of the book of Revelation—is not exactly a turn-on!
It is better to go along with St Paul who says that life
face to face with God is something totally beyond our comprehension. Let us
rather concentrate on the life we are leading now and let it be a good
preparation for that future time.
Indeed, the First Reading from the book of Revelation
presents an apocalyptic vision of those who have died in Christ. They are
numbered at 144,000—a number taken literally by some Christian sects. However,
the number is clearly symbolical. It consists of the sacred number 12, squared
and multiplied by another complete number, 1,000. It simply represents the
total of all those who have died faithful to Christ their Lord. They represent
“every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages”, for access to Christ
is open to all. They are dressed in white robes with palms in their hands. They
are the robes of goodness and integrity. The palms of victory are a reference
to the joyful Jewish feast of Tabernacles, for these are the ones invited to
live in God’s tent or tabernacle.
Together with them are the angels, the 24 elders (perhaps
representing the 12 patriarchs and the 12 Apostles) and the four living
creatures (a very high rank of angels), all prostrate in adoration before the
glory of God. The song they sing has been magnificently set to music by Handel
in his “Messiah”. Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honour, power and strength are
seven attributes of perfect praise.
And who are these people in white robes?
These are they who have come out of the great ordeal…
In other words, they are those who have been through
persecution, particularly the persecution of Nero, which occurred about the
time this book was written. And, paradoxically:
…they have washed their robes and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb.
It is the blood of Jesus Christ which brings salvation, but
only to those who have united with him in sharing its effects. Many of them, of
course, are martyrs and they have mingled their own blood with that of Jesus.
It is a picture of total victory, and the end of all the
pains and sorrows they endured in this life. It is not a newspaper reporter’s
description of heaven!
Today’s feast is first of all an occasion for great thanksgiving.
It is altogether reasonable to think that many of our family, relatives and
friends who have gone before us are being celebrated today. We look forward to
the day when we, too, can be with them experiencing the same total happiness
when:
They will hunger no more and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat,
for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
(Rev 7:16-17)
Today is a day also for us to pray to them—both the
canonised and the uncanonised—and ask them to pray on our behalf that we may
live our lives in faithfulness so that we, too, may experience the same reward.
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LECTIO DIVINA
Saturday, November 1, 2025
Solemnity of All Saints
Matthew 5:1-12
1. Listening to the text
a) Opening prayer:
Lord,
the meaning of our life is to seek your Word, which came to us in the person of
Christ. Make me capable of welcoming what is new in the Gospel of the
Beatitudes, so that I may change my life. I would know nothing about you were
it not for the light of the words spoken by your Son Jesus, who came to tell us
of your marvels. When I am weak, if I go to Him, the Word of God, then I become
strong. When I act foolishly, the wisdom of His Gospel restores me to relish
God and the kindness of His love.
He
guides me to the paths of life. When some deformity appears in me, I reflect on
His Word and the image of my personality becomes beautiful. When solitude tries
to make me dry, my spiritual marriage to Him makes my life fruitful. When I
discover some sadness or unhappiness in myself, the thought of Him, my only
good, opens the way to joy. Therese of the Child Jesus has a saying that sums
up the desire for holiness as an intense search for God and a listening to
others: "If you are nothing, remember that Jesus is all. You must
therefore lose your little nothing into His infinite all and think of nothing
else but this uniquely lovable all…" (Letters, 87, to Marie Guérin).
b) Reading the Gospel:
1 Seeing the crowds, He went onto the
mountain. And when He was seated His disciples came to him. 2 Then He began to
speak. This is what He taught them:
3 How blessed are the poor in
spirit: the kingdom of Heaven is theirs. 4 Blessed are the gentle:
they shall have the earth as
inheritance. 5 Blessed are those who mourn: they shall be comforted.
6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
uprightness: they shall have their fill.
7
Blessed are the merciful:
they shall have mercy shown them.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: they shall see God.
9
Blessed are the peacemakers:
they shall be recognized as children of God.
10
Blessed are those who are persecuted in the
cause of uprightness: the kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
11
'Blessed are you
when people abuse you and persecute you and speak all kinds of calumny against
you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be
great in heaven; this is how they persecuted the prophets before you.
c) A moment of prayerful silence:
It is important to be able to listen in deep silence so that the word
of Christ may speak to us and so that the Word made flesh may dwell in us and
us in him. It is only in silent hearts that the Word of God can take root and,
on this Solemnity of All Saints, become flesh in us.
2. Light shed on the Word (lectio)
a) The context:
•
Jesus’ words on the Beatitudes that Matthew drew from his
sources were condensed in short and isolated phrases, and The Evangelist has
placed them in a
broader context which Biblical scholars call the “sermon on the mount” (chapters
5-7). This sermon is considered to be like the statutes or Magna Carta that
Jesus gave to the community as a normative and binding word that defines a
Christian.
•
The many themes contained in this long sermon
are not to be seen as collection of exhortations, but rather as a clear and
radical indication of the new attitude of the disciples towards God, oneself,
and the brothers and sisters. Some expressions used by Jesus may seem
exaggerated, but they are used to stress reality and thus are realistic in the
context, although not so in a literary sense. For instance in vv.29-30:
"If your right eye should be your downfall, tear it out and throw it away;
for it will do you less harm to lose one part of yourself than to have your
whole body thrown into hell. And if your right hand should be your downfall,
cut it off and throw it away, for it will do you less harm to lose one part of
yourself than to have your whole body go to hell". This manner of speaking
indicates the effect to be created in the reader, who must understand Jesus’
words correctly and not distort their meaning.
• Our
focus, for liturgical
reasons, will be on the first part of the “sermon on the mount”. That is the
part dealing with the proclamation of the beatitudes (Mt
5:1-12).
b) Some details:
•
Matthew invites the reader to listen to the
beatitudes proclaimed by Jesus with a rich concentration of details. First he
indicates the place where Jesus proclaims His sermon: “Jesus
went onto the mountain” (5:1). That is why exegetes call this the “sermon on the mount” even though Luke
places this sermon on level ground (Lk 6:20-26). The geographic location
of the “mountain” could be a veiled reference to
an episode in the OT quite like this, when Moses proclaims the Decalogue
on mount Sinai. It is possible that Matthew wishes to present Jesus as the new
Moses who proclaims the new law.
•
Another detail that strikes us is the physical
posture of Jesus who proclaims His words: “when He was seated”.
This posture confers upon Him a note of authority in the legislative sense. The
disciples and the “crowd” gather around him. This detail shows what
Jesus had to say was for all to hear. We note that Jesus’ words do not present impossible
matters, nor are they addressed to a special group of people, nor do they mean
to establish a code of ethics exclusively for His inner circle. Jesus’ demands
are concrete, binding and decisively radical.
•
Someone branded Jesus’ sermon as follows: "For me, this is the
most important text in the history of humankind. It is addressed to all,
believers and non, and after twenty centuries it is still the only light still
shining in the darkness of violence, fear and solitude in which the West finds
itself because of its pride and selfishness" (Gilbert Cesbron).
•
The word “blessed” (in Greek
makarioi) in our context does not say “softly” but cries out happiness
found throughout the Bible. For instance, in the OT, those called “blessed” are those who live out the
precepts of Wisdom (Sir 25,7-10). The prayerful person of the Psalms defines “blessed” as those who “fear”, or more precisely those
who love the Lord, expressing this love in the observance of the precepts
contained in the word of God (Sal 1,1; 128,1).
•
Matthew’s originality lies in adding a secondary phrase that specifies
each beatitude. For instance, the main assertion “blessed are the poor in
spirit” is clarified by an added phrase “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”.
Another difference with the OT is that Jesus’ words proclaim a saving
blessedness here and now and without any limitations. For Jesus, all can
attain happiness on condition that they remain united to Him.
c) The first three beatitudes:
i)
The first cry concerns the poor: “How
blessed are the poor in spirit, the kingdom of heaven is theirs”.
The reader may be shocked. How can the poor be happy? In the Bible, the poor
are those who empty themselves of themselves and, above all, renounce the
presumption of building their own present and future alone. They leave room for, and focus on,
God’s project and His Word. The poor, always in the biblical sense, is
not someone closed in on himself, miserable and negative, but someone who
nurtures being open to God and to others. God is all his/her treasure. We could
say with St.Teresa of Avila that “God alone suffices!”,.
A great modern spiritual author described poverty as
follows: "As long as one does not empty one’s heart, God
cannot fill it with Himself. As you empty your heart, so does the Lord fill it.
Poverty is emptiness, not only in what concerns the future but also the past.
Not a regret or memory, not a worry or wish! God is not in the past, God is not
in the future: He is in the present! Leave your past to God, leave your future
to God. Your poverty is to live the present, the Presence of God who is
Eternity” (Divo Barsotti).
This is the first beatitude, not just
because it is the first of many, but because it seems to encapsulate all the
others in their diversity.
ii)
”Blessed are those who mourn;
they shall be comforted”. One can mourn because of great pain or
suffering. This underlines the fact that we are dealing with a serious
situation even though the motives or the cause are not mentioned. If we wish to
identify today
“those who mourn”, we could think of all the Christians who hold dear
the demands of the kingdom and suffer because of many negative stories in the
Church rather than focus on holiness. For them, the Church seems to present
divisions and lacerations. They may also be those who suffer because of their
sins and inconsistencies and who, in some way, slow down their conversion. To
these, only God can bring the news of “consolation”.
iii)
“Blessed are the gentle, they
shall inherit the earth.” The third beatitude is about gentleness.
This is a quality that is not popular today. For many it has a negative
connotation and is taken for weakness or the kind of imperturbability that
knows how to calculatingly control one’s emotions. What does the word “gentle” mean in the Bible? The gentle are
remembered as those who enjoy great peace (Ps 37:10), are happy, blessed, and
loved by God. They are also contrasted with evildoers, the ungodly, and
sinners. Thus the OT gives us a wealth of meanings that do not allow for one
single definition.
In the NT, the first time we meet the
word is in Mt 11:29: “Learn from me because I am gentle and humble
of heart”. A second time is in Mt 21:5, when Matthew describes Jesus’
entry into Jerusalem and cites the prophet Zechariah in 2:9: “Behold your servant comes to you, meek
[gentle]”. Truly, Matthew’s Gospel may be described as the Gospel of gentleness.
Paul also says that gentleness is an
identifying quality of the Christian. In 2 Corinthians 10:1 he exhorts believers “I urge you by the meekness and gentleness of
Christ”. In Galatians 5:22 gentleness is considered one of the fruits
of the Holy Spirit in the heart of believers and consists in being meek,
moderate, slow to punish, kind and patient towards others. Again in Ephesians
4:32 and Colossians 3:12 gentleness is an attitude that is part of the
Christian and a sign of the new man in Christ.
Finally, an eloquent witness comes
from 1 Peter 3:3-4: “Whose
adorning let it not be the outward adorning of braiding the hair, and of
wearing jewels of gold, or of putting on apparel; but let it be the hidden man
of the heart, in the incorruptible apparel of a meek and quiet spirit, which is
in the sight of God of great
price.”.
How does Jesus use the word “gentle”? A truly
enlightening definition is the one given by the gentle person of Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini: “The
gentle person, according to the beatitudes, is one who, in spite of the
fervor of his/her feelings, remains docile and calm, not possessive, interiorly
free, always extremely respectful of the mystery of freedom, imitating God in
this respect who does everything with respect for the person, and urges the
person to obedience without ever using violence. Gentleness is opposed to all
forms of material or moral arrogance, it gains the victory of peace over war,
of dialogue over
imposition”.
To this
wise interpretation we add that of another famous exegete: “The gentleness
spoken of in the beatitudes is none other than that aspect of humility that
manifests itself in practical affability in one’s dealings with the other. Such gentleness finds
its image and its perfect model in the person of Jesus, gentle and humble of
heart. Truly, such gentleness seems to us like a form of charity, patient and delicately attentive
towards others” (Jacques Dupont).
3. The word enlightens me (to meditate)
•
Am I able to accept those little signs of
poverty in my regard? For instance, the poverty of poor health and little
indispositions? Do I make exorbitant demands?
•
Am I able to accept my poverty and fragility?
•
Do I pray like a poor person, as one who asks
with humility the grace of God, His pardon and His mercy? Inspired by Jesus’ message concerning gentleness,
do I renounce violence, vengeance and a vengeful spirit?
•
Do I encourage, in families and in my place of
work, a spirit of kindness, gentleness and peace?
•
Do I pay back malice and insults with evil?
•
Do I look after the weakest who cannot defend
themselves? Am I patient with old people? Do I welcome lonely strangers who are
often exploited at work?
4. To Pray
a) Psalm 23:
The Psalm
seems to rotate around the title “The Lord is my shepherd”. The saints are the
image of the flock on the way: they are accompanied by the goodness and loyalty
of God, until they finally reach the house of the Father (L.Alonso Schökel, I
salmi della fiducia, Dehoniana libri, Bologna 2006, 54)
Yahweh is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
In grassy meadows He lets me lie. By
tranquil streams He leads me to restore my spirit.
He guides me in paths of saving justice as befits His name.
Even were I to walk in a ravine
as dark as death I should fear no danger, for you are at my side.
Your staff and your crook are there to soothe me.
You prepare a table
for me under the eyes of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup brims
over.
Kindness and faithful love pursue me every day of my life.
I make my home in the house of Yahweh
for all time to come.
(The common translation of psalm 23):
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;
he makes me lie down in green
pastures. He leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of
righteousness for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the
shadow of death, I fear no evil; for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy
staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of my
enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
for ever.) b) Closing prayer:
Lord Jesus, you show us the way of the beatitudes so that
we may come to that happiness that is fullness of life and thus holiness. We
are all called to holiness, but the only treasure of the saints is God. Your
Word, Lord, calls saints all those who in baptism were chosen by your love of a
Father, to be conformed to Christ. Grant, Lord, that by your grace we may
achieve this conformity to Jesus Christ. We thank you, Lord, for the saints you
have placed on our way and who manifest your love. We ask for your pardon if we
have tarnished your face in us and denied our calling to be saints.
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