First reading from the Book of Revelation Rv 7:2-4, 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.”
Psalm 24 Of David. A psalm. HERE IS THE GENERATION THAT SEEKS YOUR FACE, LORD
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; 2 for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.
3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.[a]
5 They will receive blessing from the Lord and vindication from God their Savior. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, God of Jacob.[b][c]
Second reading from the First Letter of John 1 Jn 3:1-3
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 OF THE DAY From the Gospel according to Matthew 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 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.”
Today we are celebrating All Saints, and in the Liturgy the “programmatic” message of Jesus resounds: namely, the Beatitudes (cf. Mt 5:1-12a). They show us the path that leads to the Kingdom of God and to happiness: the path of humility, compassion, meekness, justice and peace. To be a saint is to walk on this road. Let us now focus on two aspects of this way of life. Two aspects that are proper to this saintly way of life: joy and prophecy.
Joy. Jesus begins with the word “Blessed” (Mt 5:3). It is the main proclamation, that of an unprecedented happiness. Beatitude, holiness, is not a life plan made up only of effort and renunciation, but is above all the joyful discovery of being God’s beloved children. And this fills you with joy. It is not a human achievement, it is a gift we receive: we are holy because God, who is the Holy One, comes to dwell in our lives. It is he who gives holiness to us. This is why we are blessed! The joy of the Christian, then, is not a fleeting emotion or a simple human optimism, but the certainty of being able to face every situation under God’s loving gaze, with the courage and strength that come from him. Even in the midst of many tribulations, the saints experienced this joy and bore witness to it. Without joy, faith becomes a rigorous and oppressive exercise, and runs the risk of ailing with sadness. Let us consider this word: ailing with sadness. A desert Father said that sadness is “a worm that burrows into the heart”, which corrodes life (cf. Evagrius Ponticus, The Eight Spirits of Evil, XI). Let us ask ourselves this: are we joyful Christians? Am I a joyful Christian or not? Do we spread joy or are we dull, sad people, with a funeral face? Remember that there is no holiness without joy!
The second aspect: prophecy. The Beatitudes are addressed to the poor, the afflicted, those who hunger for justice. It is a message that goes against the grain. Indeed, the world says that in order to have happiness you must be rich, powerful, always young and strong, and enjoy fame and success. Jesus overturns these criteria and makes a prophetic proclamation — and this is the prophetic dimension of holiness — the true fullness of life is achieved by following Jesus, by putting his Word into practice. And this means another poverty, that is, being poor within, hollowing oneself to make room for God. Those who believe themselves to be rich, successful and secure base everything on themselves and close themselves off from God and their brothers and sisters, whereas those who know that they are poor and not self-sufficient remain open to God and to their neighbour. And they find joy. The Beatitudes, then, are the prophecy of a new humanity, of a new way of living: making oneself small and entrusting oneself to God, instead of prevailing over others; being meek, instead of seeking to impose oneself; practising mercy, instead of thinking only of oneself; committing oneself to justice and peace, instead of promoting injustice and inequality, even by connivance. Holiness is accepting and putting into practice, with God’s help, this prophecy that revolutionises the world. So, we can ask ourselves: do I bear witness to the prophecy of Jesus? Do I express the prophetic spirit I received in Baptism? Or do I conform to the comforts of life and to my own laziness, assuming that everything is fine if it is fine with me? Do I bring to the world the joyful newness of Jesus’ prophecy or the usual complaints about what is wrong? Questions that are good for us to ask ourselves.
May the Holy Virgin give us something of her soul, that blessed soul that joyfully magnified the Lord, who “has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree” (cf. Lk 1:52).
After the Angelus, Dear brothers and sisters, I warmly greet all of you, people of Rome and pilgrims. I extend a special greeting to participants in the Corsa dei Santi, (the Saints Marathon) organised by the “Don Bosco in the World” Foundation. It is important to promote the educational value of sport. Thank you also for your initiative in favour of the children of Colombia.
FAUSTI - Everyone of us is what he has received. Poverty is the emptiness that receives everything: the absolute one receives the Absolute. Poverty in spirit is humility, the first characteristic of love. It is understood by those who have the same feelings that were in Christ Jesus (Phil 2:5-11). God is essentially poor, He possesses nothing. He is all of the Other. His very Being is being of the Son, if he is the Father, to be of the Father if he is the Son, to be of the Father and of the Son if he is the Spirit. "The first and last beatitudes are in the present, the others in the future. The Kingdom of God is already of the poor and persecuted. But the tension for a different future remains. The plant comes from the seed that has been laid down. No one is under any illusion; each one will reap what he has sown (Gal 6:7); and he who sows in tears will reap with jubilation (Ps 126). Against any triumphalistic or millenarian temptation, the Kingdom is, in the present, always of the poor and the persecuted. The poor are afflicted. It' s not good for him. "The present of affliction has a different future (Is 61:1). "Consolation" indicates the joy of the new world, in which there will be no more evil. Blessed are the Merciful" These are those whose hearts allow themselves to be touched by the evil of others as if it were their own. Mercy is the fundamental form of love: a passion that becomes com-passion. The merciful finds God himself, who is Mercy, and himself, His son, merciful like the Father. It is the only bliss where one finds in the future what he already has! "Blessed are those who are persecuted for justice." Whoever loves the Father and his brothers and sisters, clashes with evil: he finds hostility and persecution, both inside and outside himself. Peace is never peaceful. It costs the Peacemaker's Cross; as it does to Jesus, so does to His disciples, who consider it a "dignity" to be despised like Him. The Kingdom of heaven, here on earth, remains under the sign of the cross. The life of the disciple is "under the banner of the cross", the meeting place between the injustice of man and the justice of God, love for all injustices. "It is necessary to go through many tribulations in order to enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). We think that adversities hinder it. But ours is the victory of the Lamb, victorious precisely because He was sacrificed. "Blessed are they! "Now Jesus turns to those who have allowed themselves to be generated by listening to the Word. It is the "You" of the brothers, who resemble Him in what is most proper to Him: His love of the "just" crucified for the unjust ones.
Te Deum We praise you, God, we proclaim you Lord. O eternal Father, all the earth worships you. To you sing the angels And all the powers of heaven: Holy, Holy, Holy The Lord God of the universe. The heavens and the earth are filled Of your glory. He acclaims you the choir of the apostles And the white host of martyrs; the voices of the prophets join In your praise; the holy Church proclaims your glory, worship your only Son, and the Holy Spirit the Paraclete. O Christ, King of glory, eternal Son of the Father, you were born from the Virgin Mother For the salvation of man. Victor of death, you have opened To believers The kingdom of heaven. You sit at the right hand of God, in the glory of the Father. You will come to judge the world At the end of time. Rescue your children, O Lord, whom you have redeemed With your precious blood. Receive us in your glory In the assembly of the saints. Save your people, Lord, guide and protect your children. Every day we bless you, we praise your name forever and ever. Deign to us today, Lord, To keep us sinless. Be always with us Your mercy: in you we have hoped. Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy on us. You are our hope, we shall not be confounded forever.
RispondiEliminaFirst reading from the Book of Revelation
Rv 7:2-4, 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.”
Psalm 24
Of David. A psalm. HERE IS THE GENERATION THAT SEEKS YOUR FACE, LORD
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
2 for he founded it on the seas
and established it on the waters.
3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place?
4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not trust in an idol
or swear by a false god.[a]
5 They will receive blessing from the Lord
and vindication from God their Savior.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, God of Jacob.[b][c]
Second reading from the First Letter of John
1 Jn 3:1-3
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 OF THE DAY
From the Gospel according to Matthew
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 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.”
POPE FRANCIS
RispondiEliminaANGELUS 1st November 2021
Dear brothers and sisters, buongiorno!
Today we are celebrating All Saints, and in the Liturgy the “programmatic” message of Jesus resounds: namely, the Beatitudes (cf. Mt 5:1-12a). They show us the path that leads to the Kingdom of God and to happiness: the path of humility, compassion, meekness, justice and peace. To be a saint is to walk on this road. Let us now focus on two aspects of this way of life. Two aspects that are proper to this saintly way of life: joy and prophecy.
Joy. Jesus begins with the word “Blessed” (Mt 5:3). It is the main proclamation, that of an unprecedented happiness. Beatitude, holiness, is not a life plan made up only of effort and renunciation, but is above all the joyful discovery of being God’s beloved children. And this fills you with joy. It is not a human achievement, it is a gift we receive: we are holy because God, who is the Holy One, comes to dwell in our lives. It is he who gives holiness to us. This is why we are blessed! The joy of the Christian, then, is not a fleeting emotion or a simple human optimism, but the certainty of being able to face every situation under God’s loving gaze, with the courage and strength that come from him. Even in the midst of many tribulations, the saints experienced this joy and bore witness to it. Without joy, faith becomes a rigorous and oppressive exercise, and runs the risk of ailing with sadness. Let us consider this word: ailing with sadness. A desert Father said that sadness is “a worm that burrows into the heart”, which corrodes life (cf. Evagrius Ponticus, The Eight Spirits of Evil, XI). Let us ask ourselves this: are we joyful Christians? Am I a joyful Christian or not? Do we spread joy or are we dull, sad people, with a funeral face? Remember that there is no holiness without joy!
The second aspect: prophecy. The Beatitudes are addressed to the poor, the afflicted, those who hunger for justice. It is a message that goes against the grain. Indeed, the world says that in order to have happiness you must be rich, powerful, always young and strong, and enjoy fame and success. Jesus overturns these criteria and makes a prophetic proclamation — and this is the prophetic dimension of holiness — the true fullness of life is achieved by following Jesus, by putting his Word into practice. And this means another poverty, that is, being poor within, hollowing oneself to make room for God. Those who believe themselves to be rich, successful and secure base everything on themselves and close themselves off from God and their brothers and sisters, whereas those who know that they are poor and not self-sufficient remain open to God and to their neighbour. And they find joy. The Beatitudes, then, are the prophecy of a new humanity, of a new way of living: making oneself small and entrusting oneself to God, instead of prevailing over others; being meek, instead of seeking to impose oneself; practising mercy, instead of thinking only of oneself; committing oneself to justice and peace, instead of promoting injustice and inequality, even by connivance. Holiness is accepting and putting into practice, with God’s help, this prophecy that revolutionises the world. So, we can ask ourselves: do I bear witness to the prophecy of Jesus? Do I express the prophetic spirit I received in Baptism? Or do I conform to the comforts of life and to my own laziness, assuming that everything is fine if it is fine with me? Do I bring to the world the joyful newness of Jesus’ prophecy or the usual complaints about what is wrong? Questions that are good for us to ask ourselves.
May the Holy Virgin give us something of her soul, that blessed soul that joyfully magnified the Lord, who “has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of low degree” (cf. Lk 1:52).
After the Angelus,
EliminaDear brothers and sisters, I warmly greet all of you, people of Rome and pilgrims. I extend a special greeting to participants in the Corsa dei Santi, (the Saints Marathon) organised by the “Don Bosco in the World” Foundation. It is important to promote the educational value of sport. Thank you also for your initiative in favour of the children of Colombia.
FAUSTI - Everyone of us is what he has received.
RispondiEliminaPoverty is the emptiness that receives everything: the absolute one receives the Absolute.
Poverty in spirit is humility, the first characteristic of love.
It is understood by those who have the same feelings that were in Christ Jesus (Phil 2:5-11).
God is essentially poor, He possesses nothing. He is all of the Other.
His very Being is being of the Son, if he is the Father,
to be of the Father if he is the Son, to be of the Father and of the Son if he is the Spirit.
"The first and last beatitudes are in the present, the others in the future.
The Kingdom of God is already of the poor and persecuted.
But the tension for a different future remains. The plant comes from the seed that has been laid down.
No one is under any illusion; each one will reap what he has sown (Gal 6:7); and he who sows in tears will reap with jubilation (Ps 126).
Against any triumphalistic or millenarian temptation, the Kingdom is, in the present, always of the poor and the persecuted. The poor are afflicted. It' s not good for him.
"The present of affliction has a different future (Is 61:1). "Consolation" indicates the joy of the new world, in which there will be no more evil.
Blessed are the Merciful" These are those whose hearts allow themselves to be touched by the evil of others as if it were their own.
Mercy is the fundamental form of love: a passion that becomes com-passion.
The merciful finds God himself, who is Mercy, and himself, His son, merciful like the Father.
It is the only bliss where one finds in the future what he already has!
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for justice." Whoever loves the Father and his brothers and sisters, clashes with evil: he finds hostility and persecution, both inside and outside himself. Peace is never peaceful. It costs the Peacemaker's Cross; as it does to Jesus, so does to His disciples, who consider it a "dignity" to be despised like Him. The Kingdom of heaven, here on earth, remains under the sign of the cross. The life of the disciple is "under the banner of the cross", the meeting place between the injustice of man and the justice of God, love for all injustices. "It is necessary to go through many tribulations in order to enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). We think that adversities hinder it. But ours is the victory of the Lamb, victorious precisely because He was sacrificed.
"Blessed are they! "Now Jesus turns to those who have allowed themselves to be generated by listening to the Word. It is the "You" of the brothers, who resemble Him in what is most proper to Him: His love of the "just" crucified for the unjust ones.
Te Deum
RispondiEliminaWe praise you, God,
we proclaim you Lord.
O eternal Father,
all the earth worships you.
To you sing the angels
And all the powers of heaven:
Holy, Holy, Holy
The Lord God of the universe.
The heavens and the earth are filled
Of your glory.
He acclaims you
the choir of the apostles
And the white host of martyrs;
the voices of the prophets join
In your praise;
the holy Church proclaims
your glory,
worship your only Son,
and the Holy Spirit the Paraclete.
O Christ, King of glory,
eternal Son of the Father,
you were born
from the Virgin Mother
For the salvation of man.
Victor of death,
you have opened
To believers
The kingdom of heaven.
You sit at the right hand of God,
in the glory of the Father.
You will come to judge the world
At the end of time.
Rescue your children, O Lord,
whom you have redeemed
With your precious blood.
Receive us in your glory
In the assembly of the saints.
Save your people, Lord,
guide and protect your children.
Every day
we bless you,
we praise your name
forever and ever.
Deign to us today, Lord,
To keep us sinless.
Be always with us
Your mercy: in you we have hoped.
Have mercy on us,
Lord,
have mercy on us.
You are our hope,
we shall not be confounded forever.