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All Saints' Day, November 1, annually

First reading, Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14

The Historical Situation: The safest thing one can say about the Book of Revelation is that it was written to bolster the faith of persecuted Christians, and that its fantastic imagery is meant to conceal its true meaning from the persecutors. Without saying so too plainly, the book tells the faithful that even their persecutors are restrained by the hand of the invisible God whom the persecutors won't acknowledge. This scene, of multitudes of saints worshipping in heaven, tells the troubled Christians that their God is really the true God, and truly in charge in the long run.

Proclaiming It: Your proclamation should capture the awe which the visionary John is trying to convey. He's telling us details of a scene we can't hope to witness in this life. It's not your grade school essay about your family's summer vacation. Read the passage to yourself several times and try to imagine the scene in your own mind. My father once said that when they make a movie of the Book of Revelation, it should be a Cecil B. DeMille production. Well, there's your assignment: All the grandeur of a Hollywood epic, conveyed with your voice alone.

A Theological Reflection: Notice that there are two groups described as present in huge numbers: one from every tribe of the Israelites, and another from every race, nation, people and tongue. John understood that God's plan calls for the salvation of all people, Jews and Gentiles alike. This universalism was obnoxious to some Jews, and led to their throwing Christian Jews out of the synagogues. These Christian Jews felt deep grief at this separation, as well as uneasiness about mixing it up with pagans, even pagan Christians. (We must note that the persecutors mentioned above were not Jews but Romans.) John predicts the eventual reconciliation of Jews and Gentiles, and so encourages his readers to embrace each other in this life as they will in the next.

Second Reading, 1 John 3:1-3

Proclaiming It: This text is straightforward. There's no need to introduce it to the lector. But the sentence structure is such that a slow, slow proclamation is in order.

Several other commentaries on these passages. All are thoughtful, all quite readable, from the scholarly to the popular.
Links may be incomplete more than a few weeks before the "due date."
Lutheran pastor and college teacher Dan Nelson's notes for a study group. Dan explains the texts verse-by-verse, and sometimes word-by-word, with cross-references to other Bible passages. Especially useful if you're puzzled about the meaning of a word or phrase in the readings. Bible Study pages of Saint Charles Borromeo Church, Picayune, Mississippi
The Saint Charles page includes an interesting history of the feast.
The Text This Week; links to homilies, art works, movies and other resources on the week's scripture themes Sadlier Publishing's page for anyone digging more deeply into today's readings, not just the lector

The Lectionary selections in the frame at the left, if any, are there for your convenience. The publishers of the page in that frame have no connection, except for membership in the one Body of Christ, with the publisher of this page. Likewise the publishers of the pages on the links above.

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Last modified: Sun Oct 22 09:00:17 CDT 2006