Reading 1 REVELATIONS 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.”
Qari I mill-Ktieb tal-Apokalissi ta’ San Ġwann Appostlu 7:2-4,9-14
Jiena, Ġwanni, rajt Anġlu ieħor tiela’ bis-siġill ta’ Alla l-ħaj min-naħa tal-Lvant, u b’leħen għoli għajjat lill-erba’ Anġli li lilhom kienet ingħatat is-setgħa li jagħmlu l-ħsara lill-art u lill-baħar, u qalilhom: “Tagħmlulhomx ħsara lill-art u lill-baħar, anqas lis-siġar, qabel ma nkunu stampajna s-siġill fuq il-ġbin tal-qaddejja ta’ Alla tagħna”. Imbagħad smajt x’kien il-għadd tal-issiġillati: mija u erbgħa u erbgħin elf issiġillat minn kull tribù ta’ wlied Israel. Wara dan, ħarist, u ara, kien hemm kotra kbira li ħadd ma jista’ jgħoddha, minn kull ġens u tribù, minn kull poplu u lsien, weqfin quddiem it-tron u quddiem il-Ħaruf, lebsin ilbiesi twal bojod, u bil-friegħi tal-palm f’idejhom. U għollew leħinhom u bdew jgħidu: “Is-salvazzjoni nafuha lil Alla tagħna li qiegħed fuq it-tron, u lill-Ħaruf”. L-Anġli kollha kienu qegħdin madwar it-tron u madwar ix-Xjuħ u l-erba’ Ħlejjaq Ħajjin, u waqgħu wiċċhom fl-art quddiem it-tron jagħtu qima lil Alla u jgħidu: “Ammen. It-tifħir u l-glorja, il-għerf, ir-radd ta’ ħajr u l-ġieħ, il-qawwa u s-saħħa lil Alla tagħna, għal dejjem ta’ dejjem! Ammen”. Imbagħad wieħed mix-Xjuħ qabad u staqsieni: “Dawn li għandhom l-ilbiesi twal bojod fuqhom min huma, u minn fejn ġejjin?”. “Inti taf, sinjur,” għidtlu jien. Imbagħad qalli: “Dawn huma dawk li ġejjin mit-taħbit il-kbir, u l-ilbiesi tagħhom ħasluhom u bajduhom fid-demm tal-Ħaruf”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Responsorial Psalm PSALM 24:1BC-2, 3-4AB, 5-6
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.
Salm Responsorjali Salm 23 (24), 1-2.3-4ab.5-6
R/. (ara 6): Dan hu n-nisel ta’ dawk li jfittxu wiċċek, Mulej.
Tal-Mulej hi l-art u kulma fiha,
id-dinja u kulma jgħix fiha.
Għax hu fuq l-ibħra waqqafha,
u fuq ix-xmajjar wettaqha. R/.
Min jista’ jitla’ fuq l-għolja tal-Mulej,
min joqgħod fil-post imqaddes tiegħu?
Min għandu jdejh indaf u qalbu safja,
min ma tax ruħu għall-frugħa. R/.
Dan ikollu barka mingħand il-Mulej,
u l-ħlas li ħaqqu minn Alla, is-Salvatur tiegħu.
Dan hu n-nisel ta’ dawk li jfittxuh;
li jfittxu ’l wiċċek, Alla ta’ Ġakobb. R/.
Reading 2 1 JOHN 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.
Qari II mill-Ewwel Ittra ta’ San Ġwann 3:1-3
Għeżież: Araw b’liema mħabba ħabbna l-Missier: nistgħu nissejħu wlied Alla, u tassew aħna. Għalhekk id-dinja ma tagħrafniex, għax ma għarfitx lilu. Għeżież, issa nafu li aħna wlied Alla, imma x’sa nkunu ’l quddiem mhux muri lilna. Madankollu nafu li, meta hu jidher, aħna nkunu bħalu, għax narawh kif inhu. Kull min għandu din it-tama fih, isir safi bħalma safi huwa Kristu. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
Gospel MATTHEW 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.”
Evanġelju Qari skont San Mattew 5:1-12a
F’dak iż-żmien: Ġesù kif ra l-folol, tela’ fuq il-muntanja, u wara li qagħad bilqiegħda, resqu lejh id-dixxipli tiegħu. U hu fetaħ fommu u qabad ikellimhom u jgħid: “Henjin il-fqar fl-ispirtu, għax tagħhom hija s-saltna tas-Smewwiet. Henjin l-imnikkta, għax huma jkunu mfarrġa. Henjin ta’ qalbhom ħelwa, għax huma jkollhom l-art bħala wirt. Henjin dawk li huma bil-ġuħ u l-għatx tal-ġustizzja, għax huma jkunu mxebbgħa. Henjin dawk li jħennu, għax huma jisbu ħniena. Henjin dawk li huma safja f’qalbhom, għax huma jaraw ’l Alla. Henjin dawk li jġibu l-paċi, għax huma jissejħu wlied Alla. Henjin dawk li huma ppersegwitati minħabba fil-ġustizzja, għax tagħhom hija s-Saltna tas-smewwiet. Henjin intom, meta jgħajrukom u jippersegwitawkom u jgħidu kull deni fuqkom bil-gideb minħabba fija. Ifirħu u thennew, għax ħlaskom kbir fis-smewwiet”. Il-Kelma tal-Mulej
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Gospel Commentary for All saints and All Souls Days by (soon to be Cardinal) Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, OFMCap, Pontifical Household Preacher.
The feast of All Saints' Day and the commemoration of All the Faithful Departed have something in common, and for this reason, have been placed one after the other. Both celebrations speak to us of what's beyond. If we didn't believe in a life after death, it would not be worth it to celebrate the feast of the saints, and even less, to visit the cemetery. Who would we go to visit or why would we light a candle or bring a flower?
Thus, everything in this day invites us to a wise reflection: "Teach us to count our days," says a Psalm, "that we may gain wisdom of heart." "We live like tree leaves in autumn" (G. Ungaretti). The tree in spring blooms again, but with other leaves; the world will continue after us, but with other inhabitants. Leaves don't have a second life; they disintegrate where they fall. Does the same happen to us? That's where the analogy ends. Jesus promised: "I am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in, even if he dies, will live." This is the great challenge of faith, not just for Christians, but also for Jews and Muslims, for everyone who believes in a personal God.
Those who have seen the movie "Doctor Zhivago" will remember the famous song from Lara, the sound track. The Italian version says: "I don't know what it is, but there is a place from which we will never return …" The song points to the meaning of the famous novel by Pasternak on which the movie is based: Two lovers find each other, seek each other, but they are those whom destiny (we find ourselves in the tumultuous epoch of the Bolshevik Revolution) cruelly separates, until the final scene when their paths cross again, but without recognizing one another.
Every time I hear the notes of this song, my faith brings me almost to shout out inside me: Yes, there is a place from where we will never return and from where we will not want to return. Jesus has gone to prepare it for us, he has opened life for us with his resurrection and he has indicated the path to follow him with the passage of the beatitudes. A place where time will stop to make way for eternity; where love will be full and total. Not just the love of God and for God but also all honest and holy love lived on earth.
Faith doesn't free believers from the anguish of having to die, but it soothes us with hope. A preface of the Mass (for All Souls' Day) says: "If the certainty of having to die saddens us, the hope of future immortality consoles us." In this sense, there is a moving testimony that also comes from Russia. In 1972, in a clandestine magazine a prayer was published that had been found in the jacket pocket of a soldier, Aleksander Zacepa, composed just before the World War II battle in which he would die.
It says:
"Hear me, oh God! In my lifetime, I have not spoken with you even once, but today I have the desire to celebrate. Since I was little, they have always told me that you don't exist. And I, like an idiot, believed it. I have never contemplated your works, but tonight I have seen from the crater of a grenade the sky full of stars, and I have been fascinated by their splendour. In that instant I have understood how terrible is the deception. I don't know, oh God, if you will give me your hand, but I say to you that you understand me …
"Is it not strange that in the middle of a frightful hell, light has appeared to me, and I have discovered you? I have nothing more to tell you. I feel happy, because I have known you. At midnight, we have to attack, but I am not afraid. You see us.
"They have given the signal. I have to go. How good it was to be with you! I want to tell you, and you know, that the battle will be difficult: Perhaps this night, I will go to knock on your door. And if up to now, I have not been your friend, when I go, will you allow me to enter?
"But, what's happening to me? I cry? My God, look at what has happened to me. Only now, I have begun to see with clarity. My God, I go. It will be difficult to return. How strange, now, death does not make me afraid." [Translation by Zenit]
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