Sunday, November 1, 2020

Claiming Our Sainthood

 HOMILY, ST. PAUL’S, FOLEY – ALL SAINTS’ DAY

NOVEMBER 1, 2020 

 

TEXT:                        Revelation 7:9-17; Matthew 5:1-12

 

 

I once did a brief “children’s sermon” on All Saints’ Sunday.  I thought it would be light and harmless.  I posed a question to the children, gathered at my feet: “Can you name a saint?” Since we were at St. Patrick’s Church, I assumed someone would respond with St. Patrick, or any other well-known saint, such as St. Paul or St. John.

 

One young boy eagerly raised his hand and said, “I know! I know!” I called on him and his response was surprising: “Bobby Hebert!”

 

The young boy had named the quarterback of the New Orleans Saints.  The boy didn’t know it, but he was being theologically profound.

 

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Today and tomorrow we are observing two major feasts of the church: All Saints’ Day (today) and All Souls’ Day(tomorrow).  The first has to do with all the saints, and the second has to do with the faithful departed.

 

All Saints’ Day can be traced back to the fourth century, largely to commemorate the well-known and lesser-known saints of the earlier centuries – and also the thousands of Christian martyrs who had gone to their reward in the Roman persecutions of the first through third centuries.

 

All Souls’ Day was rooted in the theological belief in purgatory.  The day was set aside for remembering those ordinary Christians who had gone to a holding place while their minor sins were expunged.

 

We, of course, do not profess any sort of belief in purgatory. A saint is a saint – that is the nature of the grace of God.  There is now a blending of All Saints’ and All Souls’ Days.

 

The young boy who answered Bobby Hebert to my question had a point.  We believe that when baptized, a person becomes a member of the household of God.  As the Book of Common Prayer says, “The bond established by God in baptism is indissoluble.”

 

So, we count ourselves and those loved ones who have gone before us as members of the masses of humanity who stand before the throne of God in the reading today from the Book of Revelation.  That is a source of comfort.  Life continues, even beyond the grave.

 

But there is instruction, too, in the gospel lesson.  Jesus speaks to us of the characteristics of the saints in the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. The poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted.

 

By our baptisms, we have been justified – that is, we are saints by the grace of God.  Jesus reminds us in the Beatitudes of the characteristics of saints’ lives – eight traits (maybe even nine) for us to aspire to in our lives.

 

As we do so, we can claim our full inclusion more and more in this great feast day of the church.