Collect Readings and Psalm for All Saints Day 1 November 2020
Collect:
Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Grant us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living that we may come to those inexpressible joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Jeremiah 31: 31-34
31 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. 33But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord’, for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
Psalm 34: 1-10
1 I will bless the Lord at all times; ♦his praise shall ever be in my mouth.
2 My soul shall glory in the Lord; ♦let the humble hear and be glad.
3 O magnify the Lord with me; ♦let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought the Lord and he answered me ♦and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Look upon him and be radiant ♦and your faces shall not be ashamed
6 This poor soul cried, and the Lord heard me ♦and saved me from all my troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him ♦ and delivers them.
8 O taste and see that the Lord is gracious; ♦blessed is the one who trusts in him.
9 Fear the Lord, all you his holy ones, ♦for those who fear him lack nothing.
10 Lions may lack and suffer hunger, ♦but those who seek the Lord lack nothing that is good.
Revelation 7: 9-17
9 After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. 10They cried out in a loud voice, saying,
‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!’
11And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, 12singing,
‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honour
and power and might
be to our God for ever and ever! Amen.’
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?’ 14I said to him, ‘Sir, you are the one that knows.’ Then he said to me, ‘These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
16 They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat;
17 for the Lamb at the centre 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.’
Matthew 5: 1-12
5When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
3 ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 ‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 ‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
7 ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 ‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 ‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
The reflection for Tomorrow (All Saints Day) is being written on 31 October or Halloween.
Our Celtic Ancestors marked this day marking the end of the Harvest Season and the beginning of Winter. With the approach of darkness it was also seen as the time of year when the living were closest to their ancestors This was a joyous night of revelry and bonfires as the Celts prepared to knuckle down to the Winter Months. Thousands of years later we too are marking the movement from Light to the season of Darkness. Indeed, this year with the Lockdown we are more than ever looking at a season of Darkness and can empathise with our distant ancestors.
With the advent of Christianity the first day of November was designated by the Church as a day to remember the dead who had gone before us . In the Irish language we have a lovely expression for those who have gone before us “ar slí na fírinne” meaning “on the road of truth” .
The night before All Saints Day was called All Hallows Eve . The word Hallowed meaning to make holy or sacred . We still use this word in The Lords Prayer with the expression “Hallowed be Thy name”. With the current usage of the word I’m not sure if some people even realise the true meaning of the word.
However the marking of All Saints Day is a special occasion in the year when we have a real opportunity to stand back from the day to day pressure of life and reflect on our lives on our own spiritual journey , particularly as we adjust to the dark and move towards the end of the Church’s year at the end of this month.
It is in this context I am looking at our Gospel Reading from St Matthew today which outlines a guide on how we should live. Possibly because for many years we lived in a predominantly Christian culture– without exposure to other Faiths or none –we may not have subjected our Christian values to a critical examination
However if we look at our Gospel reading today-often called the Beatitudes or the Sermon on the Mount -we have an excellent summary of Jesus values.
This leads to the question — -how well do we internalise these values? Would a Christian Society reflect these values, more important can we ensure that we observe these values even if we are in a minority.
The full reading is listed on the readings but can I focus on 4 of these values .
- Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Do we value meekness or humility or do overbearing people who push themselves forward gain more attention? Can we see beyond the image created behind certain loud people and hold true to real Christian values.
I’m always heartened by the story of Br Kevin a Friar who opened a Day care Centre in Dublin , to provide meals for those without food, over 50 years ago in Dublin. For many years this quiet man worked unobtrusively exhibiting the meekness of the Beatitudes. It was heart warming when Pope Francis visited Dublin in 2018 that -as well as meeting the Great and the Good- he paid a special visit to honour the work of this humble man.
- Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.
How do we as a society actually recognise where there is a need to respond to injustice both at home and abroad. We live in a society where the media (newspapers and tv) who are dependant on advertising and rating focus mainly on Western Culture (Europe/N America and Australasia). This ignores huge swathes of the world where injustice and poverty can dominate.
We are fortunate in Ireland that we are well served by organisations who do thirst for righteousness both at home and abroad. Organisations such as Christian Aid, Goal, Trocaire, Unicef, Oxfam etc help us to focus on needs outside Ireland. Equally we have many godly people at home who seek for justice in Ireland with groups such as Vincent de Paul, Simon, Samaritans , Women’s Aid etc
- Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the children of God.
As a Christian this poses some serious questions as to how seriously do we take the word of Our Saviour .Our Christian heritage in Europe over 2,000 years has been marked by wars , wars between nations , civil wars and worst of all religious wars .
In this country in 1979 the leader of the Roman Catholic Church prayed “on his bended knees “ that the violence which was blighting our country would cease. It was a further 15 years before a ceasefire occurred in this country.
Obviously as ordinary citizens we cannot influence all these events. However we have the opportunity to maintain good relationships , to seek reconciliation , to advocate mediation where major differences occur and to pray that the minds of war mongers will be turned towards the message of oeace.
- Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Despite the easy accessibility of communications this is almost a neglected topic. There are 260 million people in 50 countries where Christians are being persecuted or in danger of persecution in countries in the Middle East, Asia and areas in Africa like Northern Nigeria .
Let us at least let them know that we are with them in their plight, that our Government will speak out against such oppression and support them in our prayers.
While we reflect on our spiritual journey our Epistle reading offers us an uplifting picture on the great multitude who are with the Lord. The Revelation to John speaks as follows
16 They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat;
17 for the Lamb at the centre 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.’
On this positive note let us end in the words of the Collect
Grant us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living that we may come to those inexpressible joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
TM
31/10/2020