November 1st: Feast of All Saints

His words promise a harvest of peace and joy for the persecuted; to the merciful and pure of heart, Jesus offers new Life in His presence, forever.

Matthew 5: 1-12

Nowhere were His arms spread so wide, at no time His love so full and overflowing

and His promise so firmly planted in our hearts, as in these words “blessed are you”

proclaimed over and over today, wherever God´s people come together.

Jesus embraces those who yearn for a just and humane society,

assuring them that God is listening to their cry; His words promise a harvest of peace and joy

for the persecuted; to the merciful and pure of heart, Jesus offers new Life in His presence, forever.

Once again Jesus makes the disciples look back at the history of Israel,

to find the seed planted by the hand of God in human history; a hand always ready to reward

those who suffered the disgrace and pain of persecution for the sake of justice,

with a share in the Sonship of the Messiah, that personal love that unites the Father

with His Beloved Son. Jesus knew the suffering and persecution that awaited his disciples.

He wanted them to know, and all who were to succeed them up to today, that neither suffering

nor persecution nor death, could separate us from His Loving, Fatherly embrace.