Scripture Reflections for the Solemnity of All Saints
Year B, Lectionary 667
God is a communion of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If we join unto God we become part of that divine communion and we join together with our sisters and brothers in Christ. This includes people who have passed away but lived their lives set apart for God: holy. Saints. Let us strive to live holy lives serving God and join the heavenly community others are already a part of.
Hate feeling lost on Sundays at church? Searching for a better explanation of the Bible than what you hear from your pastor's sermon? Check out the following collection of audio, video, and text commentaries from various Christian experts for a better understanding of today's scripture that deal with: Beatitudes • Communion • Community • Creation • Desire • Focus • Grace • Happiness • Healing • Heaven • History • Holy • Hope • Justice • Kingdom • Listen • Peace • Prayer • Relationship • Saint • Sight • Suffering •
“Are we, do we want to be, will we work to be the blessed of our God? Because those blessings are there, Church, we just have to open up, we just have to say 'yes,' we just have to be willing participants in the fullness of that grace that is already ours”
“in the new law the curses are the blessings because the way we enter into the blessing of the kingdom of heaven is through the cross. It's through suffering, it's through the mystery of a suffering that's united to the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.”
“life in the kingdom is about hunger and thirst. It’s about those who have a passionate commitment to the will of God for human beings and the world.”
“in Christianity the teacher and the teaching are one. Jesus is not separate from his teaching, he is the same as his teaching.”
“the original sin has to be that it takes so much work to get out of ourselves. That our default position is me, and to protect me, and to take care of me. I think we have to move against that deliberately, constantly. That's what, to me, salvation is. Moving against that default position.”
“What's my own personal downfall, my own personal addiction? And might I pray to the Lord Jesus to give me the grace to pursue the virtues of the Beatitudes and therefore become blessed”
“If you're blessed your blessedness is going to take you to a new level of righteousness of Christian living. You and I will grow spiritually by putting these Beatitudes into action.”
“God's kingdom breaks in everywhere. On street corners and schoolyards, in sanctuaries and soup kitchens, among sinners and saints. God's kingdom is among us. Can you see it? Do you feel it?”
“Today's gospel is a call for all of us to ask ourselves: when have I thought that I know everything? When have I tried to put God in a box? When have I not been able to connect with other people's suffering or to listen to the lived experience of those I do not know?”
“I do know that showing up as a community in a time of distress moves something inside of us to a greater stability of heart. It makes space for other things to live besides sorrow.”
“Listening is an art, a skill. When I listen to you I'm listening to understand your perspective. Are we listening? When we listen we get to the whole truth”
“If we rely totally on our own capability it will not only be difficult but it will be impossible to become a saint. But if we try our best and rely on the grace of God then it becomes easy for us to become saints. For with God all things are possible.”
“But note it is not just a handful, it is not just a few who stand gathered in heaven. It is a group vast and numerous beyond all counting. Holiness it would seem is not meant to be rare. Nor is it as rare as our world thinks”
“We all have to find our own place where saintliness will come to us from God and it'll be a different place than everyone else”
“One way to characterize sanctity is simply becoming a friend of Christ, it's becoming Christ's friend. Better, allowing Christ to live his life in you.”
