Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12a
I am a child of God: Heaven is my Home, I am called to be a Saint!
In a kindergarten class, taught by a nun (reverend sister), the nun asks the kids to indicate by a show of hands how many among them would like to go to heaven. All, but one little girl raised up their hands. Curious, the nun asks the little girl whose hand was not up: my daughter, why do you not want to go to heaven? She replies: my Mom, on dropping me off at school this morning, asked me to stay put at the end of school, so she might come get me; I want to wait for my Mom after school, I don’t want to go to heaven, sister!
First, our poor little girl imagines going to heaven to be something immediate: she is very right! Going to heaven, for a Christian, is a daily preparation, not what we prepare for at the end of our lives on earth. Second, the little girl in our story, obedient to the command of her Mom, waits for her Mom to come get her: only a daily obedience to God’s commands make heaven/sainthood a possibility for you and me. Let us see how our readings corroborate these two realities.
Revelation to John poses a challenge to most people because of its genre – apocalypticism. For example, it is common place to hear people ask: how many will make heaven, since Revelation 7:4 says only 144 thousand will make heaven? The good news is that, a close reading of Revelation 7:4 does not make that claim, otherwise, we cannot be celebration All Saints’ Day today. Revelation 7:4 says, “And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel;” a literal understand speaks to the number among the Jews, but not of all human beings! In fact, Revelation says, and that is why we celebrate All Saints’ Day, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'” (Revelation 7:9-10)
Our first reading makes salvation a gift of God to all peoples, irrespective of their tribe, ethnicity, status and gender. This point comes across clearly in the “uncountable multitude” John sees (Revelation 7:9). However, more pertinent to our reflection is this statement: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:10). Accordingly, if salvation belongs to God and the Lamb, this salvation is the gift of the Lamb whose death on Calvary offers us salvation here and now. The only question is: what do we do with this gift of salvation?
Our second reading concurs that we are recipients of salvation, when it says: “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are” ( 1 John 3:1). So, as God’s children here and now, we have this gift of salvation, but as regards who makes heaven and sainthood, hear what the same second reading says: “And all who hope [for heaven and sainthood] in him purifies themselves as God is pure” (1 John 3:3). Consequently, the gift of salvation is an invitation to live a purified or holy life, in order to make it to heaven and sainthood. How do you and I do that: keep ourselves pure? It is to live the life of the beatitudes!
Our gospel today outlines strategies for attaining heaven and sainthood through the nine beatitudes. The beatitudes conclude with the saying, “for your reward is great in heaven” (Matthew 5:12a). Notice that the text states the reward in the present time (tense) not past or future: it is something we have here and now, in hope, which perdures in heaven! So, heaven is now, at least, its preparation!
Going back to all our arguments above, beginning with the story of the little girl who expects heaven here and now, while being obedient to her Mom’s injunction to stay put after school; our first reading which shows an uncountable multitude of those Jesus’ death grants salvation; the fact that we are here and now children of God hoping for sainthood and heaven, according to our second reading; heaven being what we begin here and now, according to our gospel of today; it follows that the celebration of All Saints’ Day is not just about the dead who made it to heaven, canonized by the Church or not, but also it is about you and me struggling here and now for heaven: it is an invitation to imitate the saints, to be saints ourselves, and to be thankful for Jesus’ death on the cross for our salvation!
Assignment for the week
Could you choose one beatitude and practice it all week long? For me, I want to be a peacemaker for this week, because I want to be called a child of God (Matthew 5:9)!
An Exegetical Homily on the Gospel (Matthew 5:1-12a) for 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B and All Saints’ Day (November 1, 2015)
Today’s gospel does not give us a drama as we had last week; on the contrary, we have themes, the meaning of which we need to decipher. Consequently, our exegetical method, this week, will be literary exegesis.
Step I: What does the Text Say (Matthew 5:1-12a)?
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. (Mat 5:1 NRS) Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: (Mat 5:2 NRS) “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Mat 5:3 NRS) “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. (Mat 5:4 NRS) “Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. (Mat 5:5 NRS) “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. (Mat 5:6 NRS) “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. (Mat 5:7 NRS) “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. (Mat 5:8 NRS) “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. (Mat 5:9 NRS) “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Mat 5:10 NRS) “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. (Mat 5:11 NRS) Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Mat 5:12 NRS)
Step II: The Meaning of the Text – Hope of Heaven for those who Practice the Beatitudes
A Literary Analysis/Exegesis: Verbal Usages
- We have, in the beatitudes (Matthew 5:2-12a), some verbs indicating future time (tense) and others present time (just the verbs expressing the rewards attached to each beatitude). To make our analyses simple, I have emboldened the essential verbs that portray the relationships between each beatitude and its reward. The variation in the time of the verbs contains the meaning of the gospel text.
- The implication of using different time frame for the verbs is to indicate that there are rewards attached to my life and your life now, on the basis of practicing the beatitudes, and other rewards for later/future life. Here are the verbs, their time and their rewards: 1) the poor in Spirit, have the kingdom of God right now [IS], 2) mourners will be consoled in the future [WILL], 3) the meek will inherit the earth in the future [WILL], 4) those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied in the future [WILL], 5) the merciful will receive mercy in the future [WILL], 6) the pure of heart will see God in the future [WILL], 7) peacemakers will be called sons of God [WILL], 8) those persecuted for righteousness’ sake, possess the kingdom of God here and now [IS], and 9) all those persecuted rejoice here and now for their reward in heaven is here and now [IS].
- The example of the persecution of past prophets (Matthew 5:12) gives a human touch to the meaning of “persecution” – to be killed for the faith. Consequently, the verbs in the present refer to those who are already dead, like the prophets and saints, who presently enjoy God’s bliss in heaven. The other verbs, in future time, indicate what awaits those who will practice the beatitudes up until death – their reward is in the future, since they are still alive. But how are we to understand the “poor in spirit” (Matthew 5:3) who are promised the kingdom of heaven here and now? Since the poor, the persecuted and the prophets are three instances of those whose rewards are heaven here and now [note that their verbs are in the present time – is], the “poor” of the beatitudes are the persecuted – those who died for the kingdom and now live with God in heaven.
Step III: Thematic Analysis of the Beatitudes Points for Homily:
Points for Homily:
- There are many themes in today’s gospel, but central to them all is “blessing” or “blessedness.” Our first blessing, for those of us alive today and living the life of the beatitudes, is the hope of the kingdom of God as our reward, just as the first, eighth and ninth beatitudes show.
- Our second blessing comes from the fact that here and now we are related to God, so we are called his children because we do his will: “blessed are the peacemakers, they shall be called children of God.”
- Our third blessing is that we know the logic of living on the earth: “blessed are the meek, they will inherit the earth.” Creating peace on earth is a human responsibility!
- The theological virtue of “Hope” links together these three earlier points – the hope of seeing and living with God forever, the promise offered to the pure of heart, for they will see God! We are not in heaven yet, but we entertain the hope of being there someday.
- The example of the prophets reminds us of the sacrifices of the saints whose feast day we celebrate today. Also, the persecution of the prophets tells us that we may end up like themselves, if we persevere on the path of the beatitudes.
- Our attitude, in hope, should be that of joy and happiness, because if the prophets made it to heaven, so can we, by the grace of God!