All Saints Sunday - Rector's Rambling for November 3, 2013

Today we are celebrating the Feast of All Saints.

When we think of saints we usually think of long ago and far away.  But here in Detroit we have someone who is being considered for sainthood by the Roman Church.  Fr. Solanus Casey was a Franciscan friar who lived at St. Bonaventure on Mt. Elliot, who helped to start the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, and had a really remarkable, humble ministry of healing and intercession.  He died in 1957.  We have parishioners who have had a relative who had a miraculous healing through Fr. Solanus’ intercession.  That is close by and not too long ago, both relationally as well as geographically!

But even more importantly, WE are called to be saints!  As members of the Body of Christ, the Church, we are expected to be in a state of grace, repentant of sin, and desiring to cooperate with God’s will for us to be holy!

Fr. Fredrick William Faber, priest and author of many hymns, including Faith of our Fathers (#393 in our hymnal), had this to say about what the saints had in common:

Look at all the saints in all ages, no matter what their history may be, or their lot in life.  They differ much from one another; yet after all they are very much alike….  In a word, while the saints differ in almost everything else, there are three things in which they all agree: eagerness for the glory of God; touchiness about the interests of Jesus; and anxiety for the salvation of souls.  In these three things consists sympathy with Jesus, and sympathy is at once the fruit and food of love, and love is sanctity.  And a saint is simply one who loves Jesus above the common run of pious men and has had unusual gifts given him in return.

~ All for Jesus: The Easy Way of Divine Love, p. 30,31

In other words, this is about being “All for Jesus!”  It means getting out of God’s way and letting Him direct and guide us by His Holy Spirit.  Not always easy (taking up one’s cross rarely is), but He will provide the Grace to do so.