 clickable | | Blessed Are All the Saints Jesus left no formal religious rule for his followers. The closest he came was his proclamation of the Beatitudes: Blessed are the poor in spirit, the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers…. Francis took to heart this spiritual vision and translated it into a way of life. In various ways, other saints before and since have done the same. But for many men and women since the time of Francis, his particular example has offered a distinctive key to the Gospel—or, as Pope Francis might say, "a new way of seeing and interpreting reality." Among the central features of this key: the vision of a Church that is "poor and for the poor"; a resolve to take seriously Jesus's example of self-emptying love; the way of mercy and compassion; above all, a determination to proclaim the Gospel not only with words but with one's life. —from the book The Franciscan Saints by Robert Ellsberg |  MorningOffering.com | † Saint Quote
"Never say, 'What great things the saints do,' but, 'What great things God does in His saints.'"
— St. Philip Neri † MEDITATION OF THE DAY
"The life of faith is nothing less than the continued pursuit of God through all that disguises, disfigures, destroys and, so to say, annihilates Him. It is in very truth a reproduction of the life of Mary who, from the Stable to the Cross, remained unalterably united to that God whom all the world misunderstood, abandoned, and persecuted. In like manner faithful souls endure a constant succession of trials. God hides beneath veils of darkness and illusive appearances which make His will difficult to recognize; but in spite of every obstacle these souls follow Him and love Him even to the death of the Cross."
— Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade, p. 25
AN EXCERPT FROM
Abandonment to Divine Providence ⛪TODAY'S FEAST DAY⛪ ALL SAINTS DAY On November 1st the Church celebrates all her holy ones in heaven, known and unknown, with the feast of All Saints. The solemnity originally began in the 4th century to commemorate all the Christian martyrs killed during those centuries of brutal persecution before Christianity was legalized. There were so many martyrs that a separate feast day could not be given to each one individually, yet, the Church did not want to leave any martyr without proper veneration. A common feast day developed and was usually celebrated in the Easter season. In the 8th century Pope Gregory III consecrated a chapel in St. Peter's Basilica to all the saints and moved the feast day to November 1st. The feast of All Saints is a Holy Day of Obligation. † VERSE OF THE DAY
"Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."
Phillipians 4:8 |  click to read more | | ST. DEBORAH THE PROPHETESS St. Deborah (11th c. B.C.) was a godly widow and saint of the Old Testament. She was a courageous prophetess and champion of the Israelites. All Israel came to her to judge their disputes, and God prophesied to Israel through her. She was Israel's only female judge. Her role as the military leader who defended the Israelites is commemorated in the Bible's "Song of Deborah." It was her military counter-attack against Sisera at Mount Tabor that successfully delivered Israel's enemies into their hands. As prophetess, she foretold that Israel would have peace for 40 years following this victory. St. Ambrose and St. Jerome observed that St. Deborah is a good role model for the encouragement of courageous, godly women. Her feast day is November 1st. | Solemnity of All Saints Saint of the Day for November 1 The earliest certain observance of a feast in honor of all the saints is an early fourth-century commemoration of "all the martyrs." In the early seventh century, after successive waves of invaders plundered the catacombs, Pope Boniface IV gathered up some 28 wagon-loads of bones and reinterred them beneath the Pantheon, a Roman temple dedicated to all the gods. The pope rededicated the shrine as a Christian church. According to Venerable Bede, the pope intended "that the memory of all the saints might in the future be honored in the place which had formerly been dedicated to the worship not of gods but of demons" (On the Calculation of Time). The Franciscan Saints But the rededication of the Pantheon, like the earlier commemoration of all the martyrs, occurred in May. Many Eastern Churches still honor all the saints in the spring, either during the Easter season or immediately after Pentecost. How the Western Church came to celebrate this feast, now recognized as a solemnity, in November is a puzzle to historians. The Anglo-Saxon theologian Alcuin observed the feast on November 1 in 800, as did his friend Arno, Bishop of Salzburg. Rome finally adopted that date in the ninth century.
Reflection This feast first honored martyrs. Later, when Christians were free to worship according to their consciences, the Church acknowledged other paths to sanctity. In the early centuries the only criterion was popular acclaim, even when the bishop's approval became the final step in placing a commemoration on the calendar. The first papal canonization occurred in 993; the lengthy process now required to prove extraordinary sanctity took form in the last 500 years. Today's feast honors the obscure as well as the famous—the saints each of us have known. | Solemnity of All Saints
Lectionary: 667
Reading 1 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." Responsorial Psalm Ps 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6 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 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. Alleluia Mt 11:28 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 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." | Catholic Meditations
Meditation: Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14 All Saints (Solemnity) Blessing and glory . . . be to our God forever and ever. (Revelation 7:12) St. Thomas Aquinas once said that grace is "nothing else but a certain beginning of glory within us" (Summa Theologiae, II–II.24.3). It's this glory that we're celebrating today on All Saints Day—the glory that all the saints in heaven are enjoying right now. Did you catch the connection in Aquinas' quote? God's grace is the beginning of glory in us. It's what paves the way for each of us to experience the glory of God in our lives. This is the grace we were given when we were baptized. It's as we build on this grace day by day that we start to experience the heavenly life that the saints now enjoy fully. What might this grace look like? • A moment of grace to move beyond a resentment and take active steps to seek healing of a strained relationship. • A moment of grace to rejoice in seeing God at work in your life and to share that joy with someone else. • A moment of grace to recognize an area of weakness or sin and start the hard work of changing ingrained habits. • A moment of grace to interrupt your own life in order to take care of an ailing relative or a friend in need. Each moment you say yes to grace adds to God's glory in your life. Each step of trust, faith, or obedience brings you closer to the full glory God wants you to experience with him in heaven. It may be hard to believe, but you are destined for the same glory that all the saints are experiencing! Heaven is your true home, and God is fully committed to helping you get there. He has given you all the grace you need; now he asks you to grasp hold of it and take another step forward today. "Jesus, I want to cooperate with your grace so that I can experience your glory." Psalm 24:1-6
1 John 3:1-3
Matthew 5:1-12 |  clickable | Is every person in the US free to converse in Chinese? In the classical sense of freedom, no. Only those who have acquired a degree of fluency in this language are free to converse in it. The person who does not have this skill is not free to speak Chinese, no matter how hard he tries and no matter how much he may desire to do so. True freedom requires a certain skill that gives the person the ability to perform actions with excellence. And the same is true with life as a whole.
—Edward Sri
from Who Am I to Judge? | my2cents:
"They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands."
I had a friend/roommate in college that told me he was Jehova's witness, and I remember him saying that their belief in Heaven was different, and that the saved ones were already saved, 144,000, and basically this was heaven. It was a bizarre thing to try to comprehend, as if to say "Heaven has limited seating and there is no more room for you". But Holy Scripture doesn't say that. Some person came up with that. As a matter of fact, Scripture said 144,000 would be chosen from every tribe! How many tribes were there? 12? Soon things start multiplying by 12's and soon we are dealing with a figure, not a number. A symbol. And the ones in Heaven are wearing white robes, purified, sacrificed, by the blood of the lamb. And that can be you too! Jesus came for all the ends of the earth, to cover it with His whole heart. | Let us pray today: "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."
Sister Faustina said after her experience of Heaven "Oh, how happy is the soul who already here on earth enjoys His special favors! And of such are the little and humble souls." | In the Holy Gospel today, our Lord says:
1.) "Blessed are the poor in spirit". Ahh, to be poor in spirit. Lord bless us with this spiritual poverty. What it is, is a mystery of great love from above! 2.) "Blessed are they who mourn". Ahh Lord, you bless already those who sow weeping. I sang to a young teenage couple last night at their baby's funeral rosary vigil. The newborn did not make it. I sang a song saying Blessed are you who weep and mourn for one day you shall laugh, (Be Not Afraid). It was an encouragement, to have faith...which is love. | 3.) "Blessed are the meek" these will inherit the land! What land? The only land God promised! The "Promised Land". The whole of the journey was to be found in the promised land, a land they fought so hard for, and spent their whole lives learning not only obedience, but great love of God to be found in what we know is our hope and dream "Heaven". 4.) "Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness", and they say in this world we are under an evil ruler, and this leaves us with an insatiable hunger and thirst for righteousness. And that hunger and thirst will only come from God, and our fidelity to Him in Heaven. 5.) "Blessed are the merciful", and this goes with our Lord's prayer, forgive us as we forgive. Give mercy and you will receive mercy. This is the message our Lord wants for the whole world...Divine Mercy. 6.) "Blessed are the clean of heart" Sister Faustina said ""The sight of this great majesty of God, which I came to understand more profoundly and which is worshiped by the heavenly spirits according to their degree of grace and the hierarchies into which they are divided, did not cause my soul to be stricken with terror or fear; no, no, not at all!" Such is a sight of Heaven, for those washed in the blood. 7.) "Blessed are the peacemakers", these are children of God. For they bring peace, not as the world knows, but as God desires. His peace brings exacting truth, a true light in complete darkness. 8.) "Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness", and we have to know what righteousness is right? St. Joseph was said to be a righteous man. They said he was a very holy man. So these people are persecuted for being holy, ultimately, right? For being straight forward, and not ever turning back! 9.) "Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of me." The last 3 words are the kicker, "Because of Me". Mother Teresa had 5 fingers to point out the words "You Did It To Me". 10.) "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven." Rejoice in the Lord and what His will is. And you know well what His will is...God's love comes first. Never shall we lose This GREAT LOVE. Sister Faustina said of Heaven:
""And God has given me to understand that there is but one thing that is of infinite value in His eyes, and that is love of God; love, love and once again, love; and nothing can compare with a single act of pure love of God. Oh, with what inconceivable favors God gifts a soul that loves Him sincerely!" |  hear it read | adrian Random Bible Verse 1
James 5:8 8 You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Thank You Jesus | |
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