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Reflections on the Feast of All Saints All Saints is a time in the Church when we honor the saints, not to worship them or pray to them, but rather to remember them, as a person remembers an anniversary or birthday of a loved one who has passed away. A careful reading of the collects written for specific saints' days will show that rather than praying to the saint to intercede on our behalf, as is done in some traditions, we instead thank God for raising up such people to do His work, and we ask God to empower us to follow their example of holiness. In many of the saints' collects there is also a plea for God to unite all His people from all ages and all places. We also believe that saints are not limited to just martyrs, prophets, and the like. Saints include anyone who has died in the Lord. Saints also include you and me, the living Saints. Therefore, at the Feast of All Saints we honor not only those who have died in the Lord, but also us living saints who are still here and about our daily tasks. In chapter 11 of Hebrews, we find a litany of remembrance of the godly faithful—beginning with Abel—that spans the history of the people of God up to that time. We read that by faith Abraham and Jacob and Moses and untold others "of whom the world was not worthy" trusted and obeyed God even though they endured severe trials. Celebrating All Saints calls to our remembrance the continual working of God through his people to build his kingdom. Remembering the trials that the saints endured reminds us that ease and safety are not to be sought in this life but that we are strangers and pilgrims in search of the city with foundations, a city whose builder and maker is God. May God help us to so follow the examples of the saints that it will one day be said that "the world was not worthy" of us. Grant to them rest eternal, O Lord: And may light perpetual shine upon them. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen. May God who hast given us, in the lives of his saints, patterns of holy living and victorious dying, strengthen your faith and devotion, and enable you to bear witness to the truth against all adversity. Amen. |