[Propertalk] READINGS for ALL SAINTS DAY

[Charles Wohlers]

The following are the readings for the All Saints' Day, November 1, 
according to the Revised Common (RCL), Episcopal (ECUSA), Roman Catholic, 
Canadian (BAS), and English (CofE) lectionaries. Unless noted otherwise, the 
lectionaries of ECUSA, Canada and the C of E are identical to the RCL this 
day. The NRSV translation is used. In many places, these readings would be 
used on the following Sunday (Nov. 4).


OLD TESTAMENT:   Wisdom 3: 1 - 9   (RCL)

Wis. 3:1 (NRSV) But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will ever touch them.
2 In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,
and their departure was thought to be a disaster,
3 and their going from us to be their destruction;
but they are at peace.
4 For though in the sight of others they were punished,
their hope is full of immortality.
5 Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,
because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;
6 like gold in the furnace he tried them,
and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.
7 In the time of their visitation they will shine forth,
and will run like sparks through the stubble.
8 They will govern nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord will reign over them forever.
9 Those who trust in him will understand truth,
and the faithful will abide with him in love,
because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,
and he watches over his elect.


Isaiah 25: 6 - 9   (alt. for RCL)

Isai 25:6 (NRSV) On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all 
peoples
a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,
of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.
7 And he will destroy on this mountain
the shroud that is cast over all peoples,
the sheet that is spread over all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.
8 Then the Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from all faces,
and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,
for the LORD has spoken.
9 It will be said on that day,
Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.
This is the LORD for whom we have waited;
let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.


Revelation 7: 2 - 4, 9 - 17   (Roman Catholic)

Reve 7:2 (NRSV) I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, 
having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the 
four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea, 3 saying, "Do 
not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the 
servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads."
4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four 
thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel:

9 After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could 
count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, 
standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm 
branches in their hands. 10 They cried out in a loud voice, saying,
"Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
11 And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the 
four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and 
worshiped God, 12 singing,
"Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor
and power and might
be to our God forever and ever! Amen."
13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, robed in 
white, and where have they come from?" 14 I said to him, "Sir, you are the 
one that knows." Then he said to me, "These are they who have come out of 
the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the 
blood of the Lamb.
15 For this reason they are before the throne of God,
and worship him day and night within his temple,
and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.
16 They will hunger no more, and thirst no more;
the sun will not strike them,
nor any scorching heat;
17 for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of the water of life,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."


PSALM 24   (RCL)
Psalm 24: 1 - 6   (C of E, Roman Catholic)

Psal 24:1 (NRSV) The earth is the LORD's and all that is in it,
the world, and those who live in it;
2 for he has founded it on the seas,
and established it on the rivers.
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 Those who have clean hands and pure hearts,
who do not lift up their souls to what is false,
and do not swear deceitfully.
5 They will receive blessing from the LORD,
and vindication from the God of their salvation.
6 Such is the company of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob.
7 Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is the King of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O gates!
and be lifted up, O ancient doors!
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
The LORD of hosts,
he is the King of glory. [Se'lah]


NEW TESTAMENT:   Revelation 21: 1 - 6a   (RCL)

Reve 21:1 (NRSV) Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first 
heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I 
saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from 
the throne saying,
"See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them as their God;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away."
5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all 
things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and 
true." 6 Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the 
beginning and the end.


1 John 3: 1 - 3   (Roman Catholic)

1Joh 3:1 (NRSV) See what love the Father has given us, that we should be 
called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does 
not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children 
now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: 
when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3 
And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.


GOSPEL:   John 11: 32 - 44   (RCL)

John 11:32 (NRSV) When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at 
his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not 
have died." 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her 
also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He 
said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." 35 
Jesus began to weep. 36 So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" 37 But 
some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have 
kept this man from dying?"
38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and 
a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, 
the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench 
because he has been dead four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell 
you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" 41 So they took 
away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for 
having heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for 
the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent 
me." 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Laz'arus, come 
out!" 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of 
cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and 
let him go."


Matthew 5: 1 - 12   (Roman Catholic)

Matt 5:1 (NRSV) When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and 
after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 Then he began to speak, and 
taught them, saying:
3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will 
be filled.
7 "Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs 
is the kingdom of heaven.
11 "Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all 
kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for 
your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the 
prophets who were before you.


Chad Wohlers
East Bridgewater, Mass.   USA
chadwohl at satucket.com
cwohlers at bridgew.edu