Apocalypse 7:2-4, 9-14 / 1 John 3:1-3 / Matthew 5:1-12
Today’s feast of All Saints is meaningful because we not only acknowledge the saints whose names we know that appear in the Catholic calendar, but also those unnamed saints in heaven that have lived a faithful and blessed life on earth and attained their eternal reward.
The 1st reading gives us an idea of how many there are in heaven: “a huge number, impossible to count, of people from every nation, race, tribe and language”.
And the 1st reading continues by saying that “these are the people who have been through the great persecution, and they have washed their robes white again in the blood of the Lamb”.
And these people, these saints, have a purpose in heaven. And that is they are praying for us to join them in heaven eventually and to praise and worship the Lord.
Over here in this world, we may not be facing great persecution, but we may be facing a great isolation. We tend to think only for ourselves and care for ourselves.
We may have forgotten of the love that the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God’s children and that is what we are.
And as God’s children, there can be no isolation from each other.
Rather, as God’s children we must be a companion to each other, so that what we are with each other on earth, so it will be in heaven.
There is a story of a poor boy named Howard Kelly, who was selling goods from door to door to pay for his education. One day he felt so hungry and decided to ask for something to eat at the next house he was set to visit.
However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?” “You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness.” He said, “Then I thank you from my heart.”
That little act of kindness made a mark on his heart and made him feel stronger and better. He was ready to give up in his life before that happened but because someone had showed him kindness in a very unexpected event, he regained his trust in God and man. Then he grew up and became a successful doctor.
Years later, that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease. Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from, a strange light filled his eyes.
Immediately, he rose and went down the hall of the hospital to the room. Dressed in his doctor’s gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day he gave special attention to the case. After a long struggle, the battle was won.
Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room. She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally, she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She read these words: “Paid in full with one glass of milk”. Signed Dr. Howard Kelly. Tears of joy flooded her eyes as her happy heart prayed: “Thank You, God, that Your love has spread abroad through human hearts and hands.”
The truth of life is that generosity begets generosity, and one act of kindness brings on another act of kindness.
Generosity and kindness not only inspire others to do likewise, they are also the stepping stones out of our isolation to become companions with each other.
We need to be companions with each other on this earthly journey by being generous and kind to each other.
As much as we make a living from what we get, we make a life from what we give.
Let us be generous and kind companions with each other as we head towards our final destination in heaven and there we join the heavenly company of saints to thank God.
Philippians 2:1-4 / Luke 14:12-14
One of the ways to motivate people is to entice them with rewards.
Organizations use that strategy, companies use it, society uses it and even the family would use it.
This idea of rewards springs from the fact that we usually ask ourselves before we embark on a task: What is in it for me? What am I going to gain from it?
At the back of our minds, we are already thinking of the possible reward, the kind of returns, the expected gains and the tangible as well as intangible benefits.
Yet all that points to our self-centeredness and our ego, our pride and our desires that are connected to it.
And that is what the 1st reading as well as the gospel is addressing.
St. Paul urged the Philippians that if their life in Christ meant anything to them, then they would be united in heart and mind, and there will be no competition and conceit.
Also nobody will think of his own interests first but everybody will think of other people's interest instead.
In the gospel, Jesus went further against the grain of human behaviour by teaching the way of total giving without even thinking of getting anything in return.
The point is that all we do should be for God and before God. After all whatever we do and whatever we give is not ours but given to us by God in the first place.
So if all that we do is for the glory of God, then we won't be looking for rewards and returns. Then we will truly feel the joy in doing whatever we do and giving in whatever we give because we know we do it for God and before God.
Wisdom 11:22 – 12:2 / 2 Thes 1:11 – 2:2 / Luke 19:1-10
There is a fruit that is peculiar to this part of the world. The characteristics of this fruit are these: it has a strong smell, it has a hard spiky shell, but its flesh is soft and a bit sticky to the fingers.
Yes, the fruit that we are talking about is the durian! Some will die for it, but some might die from it.
And it’s all because of the smell. It is said that the durian "smells like hell but tastes like heaven". Again that is also debatable. For some it smells like heaven and tastes like heaven; for others it smells like hell and tastes like hell.
Another peculiarity about the durian is that it cannot be plucked. When it is ripe, the spiky hard-shell fruit will fall off naturally from the tree.
Durian die-hard fans will even wait for the fruit to fall in order to get their prize. The yellowish flesh of the durian is almost worth its weight in gold.
But waiting for the durian to fall from the tree can be a risky business. Let’s say, if a bowling ball, a coconut, and a durian all fall down and hit your head. Which one hurts the most?
Answer: Your head!
The lesson from nature about the durian is that fruits taste best when they are ripe. But most of the fruits from the shops and supermarket were plucked when they are half-ripe so that they still can have a shelf-life.
Although the difference might just be a few days or a few weeks, yet it makes a lot of difference when it comes to a naturally ripe taste and a forced ripe taste.
In today’s gospel, we heard of a wealthy senior tax collector called Zacchaeus who climbed a sycamore tree in order to have a look at Jesus.
He was anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was, so he climbed on the tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus who was to pass that way.
When Jesus came to that spot, he looked up and said to him: Zacchaeus, come down; hurry because I must stay at your house today.
It seemed that all of a sudden, things happened so fast for Zacchaeus. But things happened for a reason, and a good reason.
In the first place, why was Zacchaeus curious about Jesus? Maybe because he heard that one of his followers was Matthew, the former tax collector.
Maybe he heard how Jesus was friendly with tax collectors and sinners and those despised and rejected by society.
Zacchaeus may be materially rich, yet he also longed to be spiritually fulfilled. He may have realized that he had material riches but not true riches.
And Zacchaeus may not have realized it but when he climbed the sycamore tree, he was already ripening.
He was just ready to be called by Jesus to begin the road of conversion and repentance. It may have taken some time, but it’s all in the Lord’s time.
And the 1st reading has this to say about God’s mercy: Little by little therefore, You correct those who offend. You are merciful to all, because You can do all things and overlook men’s sins so that they can repent.
So when Jesus reached the spot He looked up and spoke to him: “Zacchaeus, come down. Hurry, because I must stay at your house today.” And he hurried down the tree and welcomed Jesus joyfully.
When Zacchaeus came down from the tree, it was like the durian falling to the ground. But it was also a ground shaking moment, because that was the moment when the sinner fell into the mercy of God. But all this happens in God’s time and when it happens it is wonderful to see.
There is a story about an elephant and a dog that became pregnant at same time. Three months down the line the dog gave birth to six puppies. Six months later the dog was pregnant again, and nine months on, it gave birth to another dozen puppies. The pattern continued.
On the eighteenth month the dog approached the elephant questioning, "Are you sure that you are pregnant? We became pregnant on the same date, I have given birth three times to a dozen puppies and they are now grown to become big dogs, yet you are still pregnant. What’s going on?"
The elephant replied, "There is something that you must understand. What I am carrying is not a puppy but an elephant. I only give birth to one in two years. When my baby hits the ground, the earth feels it. When my baby crosses the road, human beings stop and watch in admiration. What I carry draws attention. So what I'm carrying is mighty and great."
Indeed what the pregnant elephant is carrying is mighty and great, and when the time comes for its birth, and when it hits the ground, the earth feels it. Because weighing about 110kg at birth, the earth certainly feels it.
When Zacchaeus came down from the sycamore tree, the earth felt it.
Jesus had waited for this moment, and hence He came to seek out and save what was lost.
The durian fruit matures roughly three months after pollination. The gestation period of a baby elephant is about 23 months.
As for the appointed time of mercy to turn a person back to God, that is in God’s hands and in God’s time.
Meanwhile as we pray for the conversion of sinners and those who do evil, let us be patient and trust in the Lord.
When the time is ripe, people will climb trees just to look for Jesus.
When they come down, may we also receive them with arms of compassion and kindness.
May we continue the mission of Jesus to seek out and to save what was lost.
May we also realize that we too are sinners, and may the ground-shaking mercy of God open our hearts to conversion and repentance.
Philippians 1:18-26 / Luke 14:1, 7-11
No matter how far we have gone in life or how much we have achieved, it is always necessary to remember our humble origins.
More so when we remember how little we had in the past and how much we have to struggle to become who and what we are today.
Remembering our humble origins would only make us realize that we cannot take anything for granted and that whatever blessings we have received from God also has to be shared with the unfortunate and the needy.
Remembering our humble origins would cultivate in us a humble heart and we also know that without God's blessings, we won't be who and what we are today.
That is essentially the teaching of Jesus in today's gospel, that anyone who humbles himself will be exalted, and vice versa.
So we are reminded that everything is a gift from God, for without His blessings we can't achieve anything, much less have anything.
The blessings we have received from God are not just for ourselves but also for the mission of the proclamation of the Kingdom of God.
By who we are and with what we have, we are to proclaim the love of God and that is not an option.
That is our mission and it is an obligation, for which we will be held accountable.
So with humble hearts, let us remember that everything is a gift from God and we are called to share that gift.
Ephesians 2:19-22 / Luke 6:12-19 (2011)
The feast of St. Simon and St. Jude is celebrated on the same day probably because they both preached the Gospel in Mesopotamia and Persia where it is said they had both been sent.
But nothing certain is known about them besides the fact that they were called as Apostles by Jesus.
The letter of Jude which forms part of the New Testament is accredited to St. Jude, and he was also related to Jesus as cousins.
Like most of the other apostles, St. Simon and St. Jude were literally unknowns and could be said to be very ordinary and simple people.
Yet God chose them to be instruments of the proclamation of His Good News and to be the foundations of His Church.
Both also suffered martyrdom. St. Simon is often represented in art with a saw, the instrument of his martyrdom.
As for St. Jude, nearly every image depicts him wearing either a medallion or a portrait with an image of Jesus.
St. Jude is also the patron saint for those in a desperate and urgent need. We have heard of enough testimonies to say that St. Jude is a powerful intercessor for us.
As we celebrate the feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, let us also ask for their prayers that we live out the Good News of salvation in our simple and ordinary lives.
More importantly, may we always carry the image of Jesus in our hearts and be a witness to His love in our lives.
Ephesians 6:1-20 / Luke 13:31-35
St. Teresa of Avila was quoted as saying this: I do not fear Satan half so much as I fear those who fear him.
What St. Teresa is probably saying is that as much as Satan instigates and tempts others to sin, his instruments and operatives can carry out his mission so ruthlessly that they can almost give hell to us.
And we in turn can succumb to the evil one's tactics by confronting the ones who do evil to us and we fight fire with fire with the result that all get consumed by the flames, with the evil one laughing from afar.
That is why the 1st reading tells us to put on God's armour so as to resist the devil's tactics.
And that means to realise that it is not against human enemies that we have to struggle with, but against the powers of darkness, the spiritual army of evil.
That is why we must rely on God's armour, or we will not be able to put up any resistance when the worst happens, or have enough resources to hold our ground.
So against these human instruments and operatives of the evil one, we have to pray all the time and asking for the Holy Spirit's guidance and help to see how the evil one is manipulating those to do evil and to cause us to sin.
In the gospel, when some Pharisees seem to warn Jesus that Herod has the intention to kill him, He knows who was instigating Herod to this evil intention. Jesus was able to see the tactics of the devil behind Herod's intention.
May we pray always and ask the Holy Spirit to be our Advocate and guard us from the evil one and not to fall into the trap of his evil tactics.
Let us also pray for those under the power of the evil one that they will be freed from his power and turn away from evil and begin to do good.
Ephesians 6:1-9 / Luke 13:22-30
There is this undeniable tension between parents and children, and also between superiors and subordinates.
It is an age-old tension that is essentially a matter of lack of understanding between the two parties and when one party imposes its opinions on the other party and the other party opposes and disagrees with the other party.
The 1st reading addresses this problem and proposes this solution: Children, be obedient to your parents; parents, never drive your children to resentment; slaves be obedient to your masters with deep respect and sincere loyalty; employers, treat your slaves kindly.
Putting all this in practical terms, the simple question that we can ask ourselves is this: How can I make the other party feel better?
Whatever status or position in life, when we ask ourselves "How can I make the other party feel better?" then the tensions and misunderstandings in relationships would be addressed.
That could also be the practical way of understanding the teaching of Jesus in the gospel when He says: Try your best to enter by the narrow door.
We would want others to open the door wide for us, but are we also willing to open the door wide for others?
When we do our best to enter by the narrow door and understand how difficult it is, then we would want to open the door wide for others.
Because we would want them to feel better in relating with us and that would also mean that we would feel better in relating with them.
We have known then tensions of relationships, whether as parent or children, or as superior or subordinate. Let us now look at the narrow door and try to make others feel better.
