The Sunday of All Saints (Ps) November 3rd

Psalm 49:1-20

¹  Hear this, all peoples!

Give ear, all inhabitants of the world,

²    both low and high,

rich and poor together!

³    My mouth shall speak wisdom;

the meditation of my heart shall be understanding.

⁴    I will incline my ear to a proverb;

I will solve my riddle to the music of the lyre.

⁵    Why should I fear in times of trouble,

when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me,

⁶    those who trust in their wealth

and boast of the abundance of their riches?

⁷    Truly no man can ransom another,

or give to God the price of his life,

⁸    for the ransom of their life is costly

and can never suffice,

⁹    that he should live on forever

and never see the pit.

¹⁰    For he sees that even the wise die;

the fool and the stupid alike must perish

and leave their wealth to others.

¹¹    Their graves are their homes forever,

their dwelling places to all generations,

though they called lands by their own names.

¹²    Man in his pomp will not remain;

he is like the beasts that perish.

¹³    This is the path of those who have foolish confidence;

yet after them people approve of their boasts. Selah

¹⁴    Like sheep they are appointed for Sheol;

death shall be their shepherd,

       and the upright shall rule over them in the morning.

Their form shall be consumed in Sheol, with no place to dwell.

¹⁵    But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol,

for he will receive me. Selah

¹⁶    Be not afraid when a man becomes rich,

when the glory of his house increases.

¹⁷    For when he dies he will carry nothing away;

his glory will not go down after him.

¹⁸    For though, while he lives, he counts himself blessed

—and though you get praise when you do well for yourself—

¹⁹    his soul will go to the generation of his fathers,

who will never again see light.

²⁰    Man in his pomp yet without understanding is like the beasts that perish.

What is the benefit of such eating and drinking? Answer:

The words “given for you” and “shed for you for the forgiveness of sins” show us that forgiveness of sin,¹⁰¹ life, and salvation are given to us in the sacrament through these words, because where there is forgiveness of sin, there is also life and salvation.

How can bodily eating and drinking do such a great thing? Answer:

Eating and drinking certainly do not do it, but rather the words that are recorded: “given for you” and “shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” These words, when accompanied by the physical eating and drinking, are the essential thing in the sacrament, and whoever believes these very words has what they declare and state, namely, “forgiveness of sins.”

Who, then, receives this sacrament worthily? Answer:

Fasting and bodily preparation are in fact a fine external discipline, but a person who has faith in these words, “given for you” and “shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,” is really worthy and well prepared. However, a person who does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared, because the words “for you” require truly believing hearts.

Almighty and everlasting God, You knit together faithful people of all times and places into one holy communion, the mystical body of your Son, Jesus Christ.  Grant us so to follow Your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living that, together with them, we may come to the unspeakable joys You have prepared for those who love You; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.(F34)