Month of October closes with the message of love!
Month of October closes with the message of love!
The last weekend of Respect Life Month, we are praying for victims of Domestic violence and human trafficking. Today, the reading invites us to reflect on LOVE: love for God and love for neighbor. The violence against another person is a failure to treat that person as someone worthy of love. The violence within the sacramental marriage, the abused spouse may question, "How do these violent acts relate to my promise to take my spouse for better or for worse?" The person being assaulted needs to know that acting to end the abuse does not violate the marriage promises. Today human trafficking is a new form of slavery. The United Bishops Conference says, “Human trafficking violates the sanctity, dignity, and fundamental rights of the human person.” They state that every nation is affected by this disease—the United States is no exception. We all are called to love God and love one another. It is the essence of our discipleship. In the month of October, we were reflecting and praying, especially through the devotion to the Rosary, on the dignity of human life from the womb to the tomb.
We continue to hear from the Gospel of Matthew (22:34-40). A scholar of the law came to Jesus with a question: "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" The reason behind the question is clear, the grudge: Jesus silenced the Sadducees, so what can we do next. As usual, Jesus uses the opportunity to teach them. In his answer he summarized the entire Old Testament, the law, and the prophets. The first part of Jesus' answer is a quote from Deuteronomy 6:5 “Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength.” This was part of the Shema, the basic and essential creed of Judaism, which every Jewish child would memorize. It tells us that our total commitment is to God. The second part of Jesus' answer is from Leviticus 19:18 “Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your own people. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” Jews had laws for everything. Our love for God needs to be delivered in love for other human beings. The first reading shares the same message. It is taken from the Covenant at Sinai (Exodus 21-23). Israelites were liberated from slavery, and they are Mount Sinai. The reading for this weekend talks about how to treat the other person. God promises to hear the cry of the needy. The oppressor of the poor will face death. In another word, it is talking about God’s law of LOVE: love God and neighbor.
ALL SAINTS DAY AND ALL SOULS DAY
November 1st is All Saints Day and November 2nd is All Souls Day. The Church has three realms. The church on earth is called the militant church because we are in a battle between good and evil; the souls in purgatory are called suffering church because they are in a purifying state to fully experience God’s glory and the saints who have already entered the heavenly glory are the victorious or triumphant church. All Saints Day is a feast honoring all Christian saints – known (Canonized) and unknown. All Saints Day is a day on which we thank God for giving ordinary men and women a share in His holiness and heavenly glory as a reward for their faith.
For All Saints Day, the first reading from the Book of Revelation speaks of John's vision. He saw an angel coming from the East and the seal of the living God (7:2). East is considered as the source of light and place of paradise; and the seal has whatever impression it belongs to that person and under his/her protection. John says, one hundred and forty-four thousand marked with seals from every tribe of the Israelites (7:4). It is the new Israel, the church, those who believe in Christ, who have saved through Christ, in Israel and from the nations – universal church. In John’s vision, the multitude were in white robes, palm branches: symbols of joy and victory.
God gave Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai to Moses. In the Gospel, we see the new Moses, Jesus, who gives Sermon on the Mount on a mountain to his disciples and crowd. Here Jesus talks about the new spirit of the kingdom of God; the spirit in which the children of the kingdom should live. The form Blessed are (is) occurs frequently in the Wisdom literature and psalms. Poor means materially poor, but Jesus says poor in spirit means dependence on God. Psalm 37:11 we read, “The poor will inherit the earth, and will delight in great prosperity.” In the Psalm it means the land of Palestine; when Jesus teaches it means the kingdom of heaven.
As we celebrate All Saints Day, we remember our own vocation, that each one of us is called to live the life of the Beatitudes and pray for All Souls, so that we might be numbered among that innumerable multitude of the elect that John sees in Revelation 7.