Feast of All Saints
Feast of All Saints In the article “Day of the Dead Celebrates the Happy Memories of Life” by Victor Landa, I read of the longstanding Mexican tradition usually celebrated the first or second Day of November but can include other days before or after these two. It is el Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead. Some people who observe this day gather at cemeteries to scrub down tombstones, tidy the grass, decorate with flowers and sit and remember their loved ones. Others build altars in their homes commemorating loved ones. On the altars they place pictures, memorabilia and/or a favorite dish of the deceased family members and friends. Stories are then told recalling the persons remembered. This Day of the Dead encourages its celebrants to live life with courage, knowing that how we live generates memories and is how we will be remembered. Landa states, “In this sense, each moment contains forever, and each memory is constantly beginning.” Day of the Dead coincides with the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls known as the Feast of the Faithful Departed in our Episcopal Church. In this week’s e-bulletin and in your announcement insert, I defer to the book Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints to explain the difference between the two. In case you haven’t read it, All Saints’ Day celebrates courageous individuals whose respective faith communities saw inspiration in how they lived the gift of life God gave them. The communities celebrate their lives by special acknowledgment. Statues, paintings and icons are made in some Christian traditions to remember them. We must remember, though, they were not perfect. St. Jerome, the fourth-century scholar who translated most of the Bible of his time into Latin, is commonly remembered as a curmudgeon. He named-called various bishops, one a “deformed crow”. He was unkind in his letters to many Christian leaders. Sometime after Jerome’s death, a bishop saw a portrait of Jerome pounding a rock against his chest as a sign of being penitent. The bishop remarked, “Had it not been for that rock, you would never have been declared a saint.” All Souls’ Day, the Feast of the Faithful Departed, celebrates innumerable followers of Christ whose names and stories may be lost to us, yet they have transitioned to be nearer to God. Though not famous, in living their lives in a way of growing in the likeness of God, they inspired others. I am sure each of us has family members and friends who are part of this number. I know I do. I find few words as comforting as the ones we heard read in today’s first letter of John: “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed.” John goes on, “When he is revealed, we will be like him.” Second-century bishop Irenaeus and fourth-century bishop Athanasius maintained that God became one like us so we could become like God. Early within Christianity, it was expressed that humankind is made in God’s image and is to grow into God’s likeness; Jesus, as the expression of living the fullness of God’s likeness, is our model. How will that complete likeness of God look on us? Our full growth as reflecting the likeness of God will more than likely not occur this side of the transition, but it is a goal for which to strive. It may feel like two steps forward and one step back, or one step forward and two steps back, but we do not transform alone. The Spirit of God is with us. And the Spirit is a presence we need, as we also need the teachings Jesus gives us. The Beatitudes are an encouragement to see God’s character and an invitation for us to live in a manner trusting in God’s
character. God’s blessing is the affirmation that as we do these things, we are on the right road: being a people realizing and trusting that God blesses those who are poor in spirit. Poor in spirit is our understanding that we need God for our very being and sustenance; all depends on God. We realize and trust that God does bless those who mourn. We realize and trust that God blesses those who are meek. Meekness does not mean being a milquetoast, but is understood as both being honest about oneself, and through that honesty, keeping one’s strength under control. We realize and trust that God blesses those who strive to live in right relationship with God, others, and oneself. We realize and trust that God blesses those who show mercy, much like we pray that God forgives us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. We realize and trust that God blesses the pure in heart. One loves as God loves, unconditionally. We realize and trust that God blesses peacemakers, because they are healers and God is our ultimate healer. We realize and trust that God blesses the persecuted, because they have not given up on living lives courageous in seeing the presence of Christ in others and treating all people accordingly. The reading from the John the Prophet vision provides an affirmation of the success of those persecuted in being the presence of Christ in a world of confusion. Reading the Book of Revelation, one experiences a part of the world 1,900 years ago, that was dark and challenging for followers of Christ. Persecutions, though not constant, were sporadic and destructive of Christian communities. The Emperor Nero accused the followers of Christ of trying to burn the city of Rome. A major persecution followed. With each successive emperor, the Christian communities knew a potential new threat was being inaugurated. Yet they chose to continue in realizing God was present, and trusting in that presence. Today’s world is still confusing. It remains a place where anger, fear, hate, and anxiety are experienced everywhere. Yet, it is a place where we, the saints of God, the followers of Christ, are to be inspired by those who have gone before us, where we are to courageously live the teachings of Jesus, to give others hope, to assist whoever is vulnerable, and to give strength to those who are weakened. The “Be Kind” sticker I gave you comes from Ben’s Bells, a nonprofit agency whose mission is to inspire individuals and communities to engage in kindness education and practice. There is much darkness in the world in which we live. Let us, through kindness, be a presence of Christ to one another and all others. It will not be easy, but it will truly make our Christian commitment more real. To help, we may even recall our family and friends who now are nearer to God, but have left us a memory in their actions of how to be intentionally living lives of compassion, justice, and love. Day of the Dead, Feast of All Saints, and Feast of the Faithful Departed – we can be inspired to live now our faith by others who have gone before us. Amen.
character. God’s blessing is the affirmation that as we do these things, we are on the right road: being a people realizing and trusting that God blesses those who are poor in spirit. Poor in spirit is our understanding that we need God for our very being and sustenance; all depends on God. We realize and trust that God does bless those who mourn. We realize and trust that God blesses those who are meek. Meekness does not mean being a milquetoast, but is understood as both being honest about oneself, and through that honesty, keeping one’s strength under control. We realize and trust that God blesses those who strive to live in right relationship with God, others, and oneself. We realize and trust that God blesses those who show mercy, much like we pray that God forgives us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. We realize and trust that God blesses the pure in heart. One loves as God loves, unconditionally. We realize and trust that God blesses peacemakers, because they are healers and God is our ultimate healer. We realize and trust that God blesses the persecuted, because they have not given up on living lives courageous in seeing the presence of Christ in others and treating all people accordingly. The reading from the John the Prophet vision provides an affirmation of the success of those persecuted in being the presence of Christ in a world of confusion. Reading the Book of Revelation, one experiences a part of the world 1,900 years ago, that was dark and challenging for followers of Christ. Persecutions, though not constant, were sporadic and destructive of Christian communities. The Emperor Nero accused the followers of Christ of trying to burn the city of Rome. A major persecution followed. With each successive emperor, the Christian communities knew a potential new threat was being inaugurated. Yet they chose to continue in realizing God was present, and trusting in that presence. Today’s world is still confusing. It remains a place where anger, fear, hate, and anxiety are experienced everywhere. Yet, it is a place where we, the saints of God, the followers of Christ, are to be inspired by those who have gone before us, where we are to courageously live the teachings of Jesus, to give others hope, to assist whoever is vulnerable, and to give strength to those who are weakened. The “Be Kind” sticker I gave you comes from Ben’s Bells, a nonprofit agency whose mission is to inspire individuals and communities to engage in kindness education and practice. There is much darkness in the world in which we live. Let us, through kindness, be a presence of Christ to one another and all others. It will not be easy, but it will truly make our Christian commitment more real. To help, we may even recall our family and friends who now are nearer to God, but have left us a memory in their actions of how to be intentionally living lives of compassion, justice, and love. Day of the Dead, Feast of All Saints, and Feast of the Faithful Departed – we can be inspired to live now our faith by others who have gone before us. Amen.
