All Saints/All Souls - Rector's Rambling for November 1, 2020

     
Today and tomorrow we have a wonderful celebration of those who have gone before us, the faithful who have died.

Today is All Saints’ Day, and we give thanks to Almighty God for those who have lived lives of holiness here on earth, and the church believes that they are in the presence of God.  These are the people who have striven to live in a State of Grace, giving their lives to Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and seeking to make their own lives conform to God’s will for them.  This involves being obedient to His Commandments revealed in Scripture, and when they fell short were quick to repentance and desired to amend their lives to not sin again.

The Saints are a great example to us since they were human, and in life sinful at times.  Some were seemingly holy from an early age. Others struggled to find sanctity later in life after either a major moment of conversion, or the slow creeping toward sanctity, like taking baby steps.  Some were born into wealth and others were poor all their lives.  Some found sanctity as their education and intellect increased, while others remained simple when it came to things academic, but were great in devotion and service in other ways.  No matter what their status in life, in their love of the Lord they were transformed by cooperating with God’s grace-filled blessings to become saints here on earth.

Whenever I read about the saints I am both inspired by their holiness and what God has accomplished through them in an in them.  But it is also a stark reminder of just how far I have to go to that type of holiness!

Not all of us are completely holy (or perhaps not too close to it) when we die.  We are saved by Grace and judged on Jesus’ merits, not our own (Thanks be to God!!!)  But we do want to remember those who have died and perhaps were not what we would think of as saints.  And more importantly, we want to remember the departed who are near and dear to us!  For this reason, the Church also has All Souls’ Day, which is celebrated on November 2.

Whereas the Holy Communion Service today is quite festive in remembering the saints, tomorrow’s Masses are more like our regular Funeral Service, called a Requiem Mass.  We offer this “among the dead” by having one at Elmwood Cemetery were most of our early members are buried, and the other in our chapel where the ashes of parishioners are interred in our columbarium.  We remember them at the altar, while the residual effects of their sin is being purged, outside of our space and time, to be in the presence of the living God.

Be sure to submit the names of those you would like to have re-membered by name at the 12:15 PM Requiem Mass to be held in our chapel at St. John’s.