Posts Tagged ‘All Saints’

One with All the Saints

November 1, 2025

All Saints/All Souls – 2025

Luke 6:20-31

Marian Free

In the name of God without beginning or end, and in whose love we are united through love with all who have gone before us and with all who will come after. Amen.

I love this quote from Linda Hogan:

“Walking, I am listening to a deeper way. Suddenly all my ancestors are behind me. Be still, they say. Watch and listen. You are the result of the love of thousands.” (Dwellings)

Hogan reminds us that we are the result of all those who have come before us, those to whom we are related by blood, those whose lives have impacted upon our families in the past and in the present and those whose roles in history have shaped who we have become. We are never alone, but part of a great tapestry of saints and sinners.

Coming as they do on the heels of each other, the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls make me aware of how intimately we are connected with those who have gone before us. Threads of love, community and tradition, even our DNA bind us to past generations and, long after we are gone will link us to those who come after.

Our introduction to confession today quotes from the Book of Hebrews (12:1): “We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.” Our faith in the resurrection assures us that those who have preceded us are not gone forever but are in some way transformed, such that they live on.  We experience their presence through the warmth of the love they shared with us, through the impact they had on our lives and on the lives of those around us, through the memories of their place in our lives, through their heroic acts or through their acts of faithful living.

Within our Christian tradition, we are joined to all the Biblical figures that make up our scriptures.  We are inspired by their courage and heroism and shocked (yet strangely comforted) by their missteps and by their blatant failings.  Figures like Sarah and Abraham, Moses and Deborah, Isaiah and Huldah, Elizabeth and Zechariah, Joseph and Mary are as real to us as if they were here  present. Their stories have been told and retold in such a way that these and the many other people who populate our Bible are as vivid and vibrant in our imaginations as if they had never left us. When we need courage to step out in faith, we can look to Sarah who, without question, followed Abraham as he answered the call of a God whom he did not know. When faced with insurmountable odds, we can look to the boy David who knew that defeating the giant Goliath was not impossible.

We identify with the child Samuel who did not recognise the voice of God calling him in the night and we can wonder at the influence of Deborah – the only woman to be the judge of Israel. Mary’ surprise and timidity assure us that being in the presence of God is truly awesome and Peter’s impetuous ignorance reminds us that it’s OK to be truly human.

Though these characters lived centuries, even millennia ago, they seem to walk beside us as friends and guides, as people whose lives can inform our own, whose fears mirror our fears and whose courage spurs us on. They are so familiar that at times we find ourselves in conversation  –  “What would you have done Peter?” “Mary of Bethany, we’re you afraid of the backlash when you anointed Jesus’ feet?” “Paul, if only I had one fraction of your passion!”

“We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.” The story doesn’t end with the final words of the Book of Revelation. Throughout the centuries there have been thousands whose light has shone a little brighter, whose courage has been more costly or whose teaching has been so wise that we have given them a special place in our hearts and our histories – Joan of Arc, Francis of Assisi, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Mother Teresa and so many more – speak to us through the ages, reminding us of the costs and the rewards of following Jesus and urging us to try just a little bit more, to be braver, to be kinder, to confront injustice and to alleviate the suffering of the poor.

In our faith communities too the presence of those who have preceded us lingers on in the stories we tell of the past, the traditions we maintain in the present and even in the buildings which they strove so hard to provide. The faithful prayers which sustained them and our community continue exert an influence on our present.

All Saints is not a feast that celebrates those long dead, but a festival that rejoices in the unbroken ties that bind us  together, that recognises all those who continue to walk beside us and who unite with us in a great chain of witnesses. As we celebrate All Souls, we recall the ties of love and the bonds of memory that ensure that we are never separated from those who have gone before us.

This weekend as we celebrate All Hallow’s Eve, All Saints and All Souls Days we give thanks for all those whose lives and witness have contributed to our own lives and faith and to the life of the Church of which we are a part. In our turn we pray that we may  allow ourselves to be woven into the fabric of the faith such that we too become part of this wonderful ongoing story of God’s relationship with God’s people – a story that has no beginning and no end.

 

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Ghosties and ghouls – All Hallows

November 5, 2023

All Saint’s/All Soul’s – 2023
(Halloween)
Marian Free

In the name of God our Saviour and Deliverer. Amen.

If you can’t beat ‘‘em join ’em. That seems to have been the philosophy of Pope Gregory – well at least something like that. Pope Gregory the Great had been entranced by the fair blond children whom he saw at the slave market in Rome. When he asked who they were, he misheard “Angles “as “Angels”. The children had been brought from the land that we now call England to be sold to the highest bidder. Gregory determined to send missionaries to that land to convert its people to Christianity. For that purpose, he chose Augustine to lead a group of monks. Augustine’s task was not particularly onerous – Christianity had reached those Isles centuries before though it had only taken hold in places. Augustine had the further good fortune to land in Kent where the Queen, Bertha was already a Christian. Her husband, Ethelbert, gave the monks some land where they built a monastery and eventually Canterbury Cathedral.

Augustine wrote several letters to the Pope asking for advice. In one, he enquired what he should do about the sites that the Celts held to be sacred. Gregory replied: “what I have, upon mature deliberation of the affair of the English, determined upon, viz., that the temples of the idols in those nations ought not to be destroyed; but let the idols that are in them be destroyed; let holy water be made and sprinkled in the said temples, let altars be erected, and relics placed. For if those temples are well built, it is requisite that they be converted from the worship of devils to the service of the true God; that the nation, seeing that their temples are not destroyed …may the more familiarly resort to the places to which they are accustomed.” In other words, the Pope, understanding the meaning that such places held for the people of the land, encouraged Augustine to continue to use them, but to infuse them with Christian meaning – to rename the deity whom they worshipped in a place that they already held to be sacred. The Pope’s response – use them. Take advantage of the fact that they are already sacred and infuse them with Christian meaning. (In other words: if you can’t beat them join them.)

I recalled this story as I was reflecting on Halloween which falls on October. 31. Over the past week I have heard a number of reactions to the practice- most loudly ‘it’s American, it’s commercial”, ie we shouldn’t do it, it’s not part of our culture, it’s just a way for business to make money. Some are uncomfortable that the practice of Halloween – ghosts and witches, trick or treating – contradicts Christian beliefs and practices.

It is good to reflect on what it is about our faith that makes us distinct and what sets us apart from the world around us. It is also important to remember that almost from its inception, Christianity began to incorporate practices and traditions from other cultures into its own. Until the mid-fourth century, Jesus’ resurrection was celebrated every Sunday (as it still is). Around the time of the Council of Nicea (325), and the Christianization of the Roman Empire, it was determined that there should be a dedicated celebration and the Sunday after first full moon of the spring equinox (a time associated with rebirth and renewal) was deemed appropriate. The name “Easter” comes from Eostre, the goddess of spring and fertility. Christmas too is the appropriation of a pagan festival. The Romans originally celebrated the birthday of Mithra, the god of the unconquerable sun, on December 25.

The Pope’s advice to Augustine was wise, and it built on many precedents – it did not take much to associate resurrection with a festival new life or for the birth of Jesus to replace the birth of an unconquerable sun.

So where does that leave Halloween. Before there was a Christian festival – All Hallow’s Eve – there was the Celtic feast of Samhaim which marked the turn the seasons, between the lighter warmer half of the year and the darker, colder half. On this night, the Celts believed that the veil between this world and the next was so thin that the spirits of the dead (good and evil) could pass through. On this night, people burnt fires, wore disguises, and made sweet treats to deter, trick and appease the evil spirits so that they would cause no harm .

Over time, the Christians in the British Isles began to celebrate all the Saints on November the first – “All Hallow’s Day”. In the 9th Century Pope Gregory IV incorporated All Saints Day, followed by “All Soul’s Day” into the Christian Calendar. That the old traditions lingered long after the Christians took over the Celtic festival is clear in this prayer from an old Scottish litany: “From ghoulies and ghosties and long leggedie beasties, and things that go bump in the night. Good Lord deliver us.”

Instead of sitting in pious judgement on those who indulge in creating ghostly gardens, who dress up their children in ghoulish costumes to wander the streets and demand treats, we need to see Halloween for what it has become – a time to let down our hair, to indulge in some ridiculous fun and to build a sense of community in a world in which we are increasingly isolated.

We are no longer afraid that the dead will break through the veil to cause havoc in our world. Instead, over three days – All Hallow’s Eve, All Saints Day and All Souls Day, we are gifted with an opportunity to reflect and to give thanks for those whom we have loved and lost, to allow ourselves to be inspired by saints of great courage, and saints of humble prayer, to grieve, to rejoice and to commit ourselves once more to live lives of faithful service.

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Forces for change

November 4, 2017

All Saints – 2017

Luther

Marian Free

 In the name of God who speaks through holy men and women in every place and time to challenge, encourage and renew the people and the church. Amen.

In the early sixteenth century in Germany, a monk of the Augustinian Order had been going through “hell”. Martin Luther was obsessed with his own sinfulness and the impossibility of remembering in his sins in order to confess them, anxious lest he forget and therefore not be forgiven. Trying to work out how to become righteous before God, Luther had tried all kinds of self-abasement – sleeping in the snow and lying almost naked in the belfry tower at night. Nothing seemed to work. Luther felt that he could never do enough to earn God’s favour. Luther could see only God the All Terrible, God the Judge, God the Divine Majesty, God the impossible to please.

Luther’s behaviour was extreme, but we have to remember the context in which he found himself. The Roman Catholic Church (THE Church) was focused on sin and judgement. The Doctrine of Purgatory was based on the idea that imperfection had no place in heaven, and that Christians had to be purged of all sinfulness before they could enter eternity. In purgatory all traces of impurity were burned away making a person fit for heaven. The greater the sin, the longer it took to purge, though prayers on someone’s behalf could reduce the time a person spent in purgatory. In such an environment it was impossible to believe in grace and forgiveness, love and goodness but only in demand and judgement, fear and anxiety about what the future might hold.

Indulgences provided an opportunity for the faithful to repent and thus to have their sin forgiven. The more sin forgiven, the less time spent in purgatory.[1] During the Crusades, indulgences were offered as a carrot to get people to join the Crusades. Over time, the practice spread and indulgences became something that could be purchased by the wealthy. A privileged few, included Luther’s own Prince Frederick, were given the authority to offer indulgences themselves thus increasing their own coffers.In this environment, Luther struggled to overcome his perceived sinfulness and achieve some sort of worth before God.

Luther was an academic and a teacher. In 1515-1516 he was teaching on the Psalms and Romans. This forced him to reflect – first of all on the suffering of Christ (God) and on Christ’s sense of abandonment on the cross, and secondly on the meaning of the righteousness of God.

In his own words: “I greatly longed to understand Pail’s Epistle to the Romans and nothing stood in the way but that one expression, “the justice of God” because I took it to mean that justice whereby God is just and deals justly in punishing the unjust. My situation was that, although an impeccable monk, I stood before God as a sinner troubled in conscience; I had no confidence that my merit would assuage him. Therefore I did not love a just and angry God, but rather hated and murmured against him. Yet I clung to the dear Paul and had a great yearning to know what he meant.

Night and day I pondered until I saw the connection between the justice of God and the statement that “the just shall live by his faith.” Then I grasped the justice of God is that the righteousness by which through grace and sheer mercy God justifies us by faith. Thereupon I felt myself to be reborn and to have gone through open doors into Paradise. The whole of scripture took on a new meaning and whereas before the phrase “the righteousness of God had filled me with hate, now it became to me inexpressibly sweet in great love. This passage of Paul became to me a gate to heaven ….

If you have a true faith that Christ is your Saviour, then at once you have a gracious God, for faith leads you in and opens up God’s heart and will, that you should see pure grace and overflowing love. This is to behold God in faith that you should look upon his fatherly, friendly heart, in which there is no anger nor ungraciousness. He who sees God as angry does not see him rightly but looks only on a curtain, as if a dark cloud had been drawn across his face.“[2]

In searching for the exact meaning of the Greek word “dikaisunē”, Luther came to understand that the word rendered “justice” in English, really meant the process by which sometimes a judge suspends the sentence, places the prisoner on parole and expresses confidence in him. (In other words it was less about being judged and more about being set free.) Further, Luther came to see that justification was not something achieved by the individual, but was God’s gift to us through Jesus. A consequence of this discovery meant that Luther was at last freed from his striving and his sense of inadequacy knowing himself secure in God’s love.

Through his study, Luther was exposed to the spirit of the age, which was demanding a return to a simple faith and in particular a reinstatement of the Bible as the sole source of authority for the faith. By now the Bible had been translated from Latin into the vernacular and many people were reading it in their own language for the first time. There was an air of renewal and reform throughout Europe, a desire to return to the heart of a Christian faith that had been over-laden with ritual, ceremony and artifacts and in which a person’s relationship with Jesus had been broken by intermediaries in the form of a plethora of saints.

In 1517, a monk, Johann Tetzel, began to sell indulgences in Germany with the goal of providing funds to renovate St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Now that he understood that salvation could not be bought, but came through faith alone Luther was incensed. He penned a response: “Disputation on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences” and, tradition has it, nailed his 95 Theses[3] to the door of the Castle Church. His ideas spread rapidly and it was not long before he was labeled a heretic, called to Rome and eventually excommunicated.

When at last he returned to Wittenberg, he discovered that his teachings and writings had galvanized a movement that was both theological and political. He himself had little to do with the movement but continued to write until his death.

Luther’s significance cannot be underestimated. His writings captured the spirit of the age and throughout Europe, reform movements sprang up and Protestantism was born. At the centre of this new movement were a firm belief in the Bible as the primary source of authority and that salvation cannot be achieved but only received.

While the Reformation took its own shape in England we as Anglicans heirs and beneficiaries of Luther’s intellect, wisdom and vision.

[1] The practice was, of course, open to corruption and could be used as a source of revenue not only for Rome, but for those whom Rome allowed to dispense indulgences themselves. In the words of the Article XXII of the Anglican Church “the doctrine concerning purgatory …. is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon not warranty of scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.

[2] Bainton, R. Here I Stand – The Classic Biography of Martin Luther. Sutherland, NSW: Albatross Books, 1978, 65.

[3] http://www.luther.de/en/95thesen.html

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Practicing our faith more intentionally

October 31, 2015

All Saint’s Day – 2015

Marian Free

In the name of God who calls us all to live with courage, faith and faithfulness. Amen.

One of the consequences of the Reformation was that the various churches that formed as a result either stopped or curtailed the worship or recognition of saints. The Anglican Church belongs in the latter category. Reformers on the Continent and in England felt that the Church of Rome had overlaid the practice of the faith with a vast number of things that could not be justified with reference to scripture. Some of these are listed in Article XXII that, (in what today would be considered inflammatory language), states: “The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping and Adoration, as well of Images as of Reliques, and also invocation of Saints, is a fond things vainly invented, and grounded up not warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.”

The worship of saints was considered a distraction from the worship of God who, through Jesus, was now directly accessible to every individual through prayer. There was no need for intermediaries, no matter how holy. Anglicans were still happy to recognise that there were among the faithful those who lives were so exemplary that they provided a model for others, but they seriously culled the number who were so acknowledged and since the Reformation have only formally added one person – King Charles I – to the list of saints recognised by Anglican Church.

That is not to say that Anglicans do not recognise that there are those among us whose lives of faith are so outstanding that we might wish to continue to remember them or to follow their examples. To that end a number of people have been acknowledged as “holy men and women” without the requirement of a lengthy process to determine whether or not they have been responsible for a pre-determined number of miracles. Within Anglicanism there is freedom for each Province to add to their yearly Calendar persons of particular significance for their part of the world. There is also within our tradition the possibility of adding to our liturgical year those whose faith-life is deemed to have universal significance – whether or not they belong to the Anglican tradition.

These include a number of twentieth century martyrs – Dietrich Bonhoeffer (a Lutheran), Oscar Romero (a Roman Catholic) and William Wilberforce (an Evangelical Christian). In Australia we pay tribute to many who have made a significant contribution to the life of faith and of the church in Australia. These include – Sister Emma[1], Eliza Darling[2], William Broughton,[3] and John Wollaston.[4][5]

One holy woman whose writings and spiritual direction were a significant part of the twentieth century is Evelyn Underhill. Though a layperson and a woman, Evelyn was much in demand as a Retreat Leader and Spiritual director. She was also a prolific writer, penning some 39 books, 350 reviews and countless letters during her career. Evelyn was unusual in many ways. She was not only an independent thinker, but also an independent woman. At a time when women did not work unless they had to, Evelyn earned money from her writings and had the freedom to leave her husband behind on those occasions when she required time to write or was called upon to lead Retreats and give Seminars.

Not only was Evelyn independent at a time when many women were not, she was also unconventional in her approach to organized religion. She was critical of the church once stating: “not only the Vicar and the Curate and the Mother’s Union Committee …. the Church is an ‘essential service’ like the Post Office, but there will always be some narrow, irritating and inadequate officials behind the counter and you will always be tempted to exasperation by them”[6]. It appears that she had a great sense of fun that sometimes took by surprise those who were expecting a serious spiritual guide.

According to the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, Underhill’s book Mysticism that was published in 1911 remains a “classic in the field”. In it she reflects that one could find the central element of mysticism in the experience of the mystic, which, she thought was “an overwhelming consciousness of God and of his (sic) own soul: a consciousness which absorbs or eclipses all other centres of interest” (p 3)[7]. From this we can gather that Underhill was not interested in the theory of spirituality (as were other writers of the time), but in the practical nature of mysticism and in mysticism as experience. This may have been in part because the book was written to help her explain her own early experiences of the spiritual. In Mysticism, she argues that: (1) mysticism is practical, not theoretical, (2) it is an entirely spiritual activity, (3) the business and method of which is love. (4) Mysticism entails a definite psychological experience.

During the course of her life Underhill influenced a great many people through both through her writing (books and letters) and through personal contact. Through her life and the impact that she had on the faith lives of others, Underhill is a reminder that saints (holy people) are not always quiet, pious people who withdraw from the world to pray. She demonstrates that holiness does not require separation from the world, but can thrive just as well when it engages fully with the world. Importantly, Underhill is just one person who is evidence that saints do not belong to a past era but continue to be raised up in every generation.

Our Articles of Religion may tell us that “the invocation of saints .. is repugnant to scripture” but our tradition reminds us that among us are holy people whose faith and life can support and uphold our own, giving us reasons to explore our faith more deeply and to practice our faith more intentionally.

On this day, we remember all the saints – those known to all and those known only to a few. We give thanks for their lives and examples and endeavour to model our practice and our faithfulness on theirs.

[1] Superior of the Society of the Sacred Advent.

[2] Prison reform

[3] First Bishop of Australia.

[4] Priest and missionary.

[5] For more details put “Holy Persons and Holy Days in Australian Anglicanism” into your search engine or go to this link – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendar_of_saints_(Anglican_Church_of_Australia)

[6] Quoted by Oberg, Delroy, in Evelyn Underhill and the Making of “Mysticism”: Celebrating the Centenary of the 1st Edition – March 2, 1911. Self Published by Delroy Oberg, 2015, 14.

[7] Mysticism can be downloaded as a pdf file from a number of sites including: http://christianmystics.com/Ebooks/The_Essentials_Mysticism/teom.pdf

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Seeing each other as saints

November 3, 2014

All Saints Day – 2014

Matthew 5:1-12

Marian Free

 In the name of God who calls us and who sanctifies us through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

 A fellow priest told me a wonderful story. When my friend was a priest in Canberra (where winters are notoriously cold) he used to celebrate the Eucharist one morning a week at 6:30am. Over time, the congregation dwindled to just one elderly woman. On one particularly cold winter’s day, the priest suggested to this woman that perhaps the time had come to cease that particular celebration, as it seemed as if it would always be just herself in the congregation. Her response was: “But I am never alone, I am surrounded by the communion of Saints.”

That story comes back to me on many occasions when I enter an older church and think about the hundreds of faithful people who have filled that space with prayer, day after day, week after week until their prayers and their presence seems to have soaked into the very walls of the building. I remember the story when I look at the wonderful windows of St Augustine’s, which, to the north commemorate New Testament saints and to the south depict saints from the church in England prior to Augustine’s visit. There is a sense in which they are looking down at the worshipers and encouraging and supporting them in prayer.

Today when we celebrate All Saint’s Day, the introduction to the confession will use the words from the Book of Hebrews: “We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses”. It is an image that, for me at least, conjures up a vision of the heavenly host and is a reminder that in our practice of faith that we are never alone, but that in our worship and in our lives we are not alone, but encircled by all the faithful who have trod this path before us.

All Saint’s Day is an opportunity to remember all people of faith who are now in God’s nearer care and particularly those whom we have known and loved. The letters of Paul, written some 20-30 years after the death of Jesus, refer to all believers as saints and while the use of this term has been narrowed down to a few representative people, it still embraces each one of us.

What that means is that even though we might think that we live dull, uninspiring lives we are still numbered among the saints. A few things flow from this reflection. One is to consider whether or not we think differently about ourselves if we apply the term to ourselves. Does knowing that we are “saints” encourage us to be the best that we can be? Do we fell that we would like to rise to the challenge of being more saintly in the conventional sense? If we are saints, are there things about our lives that we would like to change, things that we would like to strive towards. Perhaps the opposite results – that knowing that we are saints makes us less likely to live up to the expression and more likely to be complacent?

If we are saints then all our sisters and brothers in Christ are also saints. This includes those who share our theology and those who do not, those who hurt us inadvertently or deliberately, those who get under our skin and so on. How does our attitude towards them change if we see them through the lens of sainthood? Would our communities of faith (locally and internationally) look different if this was how we viewed those, who like us, claim to be followers of Jesus?

Last but not least, this more open use of the word asks us to think differently about all the “ordinary” people of faith who have trod this earth before us. Today, instead of remembering those whose acts of courage, fortitude or self-denial have brought them to the attention of the wider community, let us remember with thanksgiving the men, women and children who have been faithful servants of God day-in-day out for all of their lives. People who have never stood out from the crowd but who have lived out their baptismal promises in times of ease and times of hardship – those who have been overlooked because their service takes place behind the scenes, in the home or in patiently and diligently carrying out boring or menial tasks and those who to our minds have done nothing at all. All are saints by virtue of God’s saving grace in Jesus.

In order to be saints we need to nothing more than believe. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians, the work of sanctification has been done for us: “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (6:11).

Francis Green wrote a hymn that goes:

Rejoice in God’s saints, today and all days!

A world without saints forgets how to praise.

Their faith in acquiring the habit of prayer,

their depth of adoring, Lord, help us to share.

Some march with events, to turn them God’s way;

some need to withdraw, the better to pray;

some carry the gospel through fire and through flood:

our world is their parish: their purpose is God.

Rejoice in those saints, unpraised and unknown,

who bear someone’s cross, or shoulder their own:

they shame our complaining, our comforts, our cares:

what patience in caring, what courage is theirs!

Rejoice in God’s saints, today and all days!

A world without saints forgets how to praise.

in loving, in living, they prove it is true:

The way of self-giving, Lord, leads us to you. (Francis Green 1903-2000

Today, let us remember all the saints whose lives have influenced our own and rejoice that by the grace of God we are numbered among them.

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