Word to the Wise
Tuesday, November 1, 2011 - Nov. 1 - All Saints
[Rev 7:2-4, 9-14; 1 John 3:1-3; Matt 5:1-12a,]After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands.
I have just completed the preaching of a Solemn Novena in Honor of St. Jude, the Apostle, at a historic church at the edge of the famous French Quarter in New Orleans, LA, USA. Across from the church is one of the equally well-known cemeteries, St. Louis No. 1. It is the oldest surviving cemetery in the city, and like all the cemeteries in this watery city, it is filled with mausoleums - tombs above the ground. Today it will be decorated with flowers. In contrast to the Hispanic culture in San Antonio where I was once a pastor (1994-98) where this decoration takes place tomorrow on All Souls' Day, Louisiana does this on All Saints' Day. The vision reported in the Book of Revelation reinforces the popular understanding of a saint as someone who is "dead!" Some are and some aren't!
The second scripture to be read for this feast, also from the "Johannine literature" (1 John 3:1-3) says, "We are God's children now!" The Gospel scripture from the Gospel of Matthew is taken from the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount, the famous "Beatitudes!" There, Jesus says, "Blessed ARE....." The call to holiness of life begins at baptism. We in our day are so accustomed to thinking of a saint as a person who is rewarded after death with a title, Saint So and So, that we can lose sight of the fact that sainthood is a reality of daily life. We do have the expression: "He or she is a 'living saint.'" In the past I have referred to a wonderful woman I knew in my campus ministry at the University of Arizona, Blanche Provost! Many of us who knew her thought of her as a "living saint." She did not have to die to earn that title. She earned it by the way she lived!
Our belief in the "communion of saints" is not confined to a group of officially designated holy men and women who have died and been "canonized." As baptized persons we are called to live as Jesus has taught us and know that this way of life will lead to holiness. All saints are sinners, too! As baptized Christians we are part of a vast multitude of faithful people who strive each day to be close to God. If we visit a cemetery today (or tomorrow) to decorate a grave, we might also take a moment to wish one another a Happy Feast of All Saints! AMEN