Fr. Dale Matson
The Passing Of
Things Present And The Past Ever Present
My homily is based on the opening Collect from Pentecost 22
year A, a reading from Ecclesiasticus, The Proper Preface and the Gospel Lesson
for All Saints Day.
Our opening Collect states, “Grant us Lord, not to be
anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while
we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that
shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
It seemed to me that our opening Collect for the Sunday
closest to November 2nd fits well with our celebration of All Saints
Day today. There are so many earthly things that are “passing away” that to
keep hope alive we must “love those things heavenly”. Even my devotional
reading for October 31st lodged in my mind so I could include it
today. St. Paul stated, “For ye had compassion on me in my bonds, and took
joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing that you have in heaven a better
and enduring substance.” (Hebrews 10:34) This passage has special meaning for
us at St. James.
Sharon and I returned Monday from Southern California. A
week ago Sunday, we participated in a memorial service for Sharon’s brother Jim
attended by over 500 individuals. Jim succumbed to Multiple Myeloma at age 68
after a valiant one-year struggle. I want to include his life in our
celebration of the lives of the saints today. The caption on his memorial
service bulletin read, “A life well lived, a man well loved.” I remember
meeting Jim for the first time at Sharon’s house about 22 years ago. He was in
the process of fixing a flat tire for Sharon’s bicycle. I thought to myself at
the time, “He is a good brother”. Jim and his wife of 46 years, Melinda visited
us not long before his last hospitalization. He was still filled with hope yet
I thought at the time that this occasion might be our final goodbye. Sensing
this, I told him, “Jim, I remember you fixing a flat on Sharon’s bike many
years ago and thinking at the time that you were such a good brother. I still
feel that way about you these many years later.” He thanked me and we hugged
goodbye. Actually, my final words to him turned out to be the “Prayer for the
dying” from the prayer book only a month or so later in home hospice. Jim’s
life and death was a godly example to all of us who were honored to know him. Jim
ran the good race.
As I was preparing the homily for this week, I came upon a
reading from Ecclesiasticus. “Let us now sing the praises of famous men, our
ancestors in their generations. The Lord apportioned to them great glory, his
majesty from the beginning…. these also were godly men, whose righteous deeds
have not been forgotten; their offspring will continue forever, and their glory
will never be blotted out. Their bodies are buried in peace, but their name
lives on generation after generation.”
After reading this passage from Ecclesiasticus. I read our
Gospel lesson for today. The Beatitudes from Christ’s sermon on the mount took
on an additional meaning for me. How even more fitting that we should hear on
All Saints Day, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are
the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and
thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. “Blessed are the
merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for
they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons
of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and
persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.
The Beatitudes are not just a call for us to strive to lead
righteous and holy lives. The Beatitudes are an ongoing and eternal benediction from our Lord Himself to
those saints who have gone before us.
Hallowmas season is where the One Holy, Catholic and
Apostolic Church celebrates the eternal and mystical “Now” of God’s Kingdom. We
are primarily looking back at brothers and sisters who came before. It is where
we remember those who rest in Christ. It was they who handed us the pure and
undefiled Gospel by which we too have been saved. They are partly responsible
for the faith we hold and defend today. The church has always recognized the
importance and celebrated the death of martyrs such as John The Baptist, Steven
and Paul. There were so many Christian martyrs however that the church
developed a specific day to honor all the saints in addition to those saints
who had specific days set aside to honor them in the church year. The church
calendar days that honor martyrs are marked in red.
We are the church militant looking back to those whose souls
now reside in the church triumphant. When
we separate ourselves from deceased ancestors in the modern church we are the
poorer for it. When you think of old churchyards, you think of graves too.
Relics of the saints are objects associated with the saints and often displayed
in churches. St. Andrews Scotland is said to have the bones of St. Andrew
buried in a monastery cemetery. The Shroud of Turin is reported to be the
burial cloth of Christ and is located in the Cathedral of John the Baptist in
Turin Italy. Sometimes the saintly relic is the body of the saint that resides
in the church. For example, the remains of St. Francis are buried under the
altar in the cathedral built in his honor in Assisi Italy. There is also what
is called the “Incorruptibles”. The Incorruptibles are saints on full display
in churches and remain as they were at the moment of death. Sharon and I saw
the ring finger of St. Teresa of Avila on display at her convent with her ring
on it. In the Cathedrals of Europe, the red miters of the past Cardinals are
hung from the rotundas. While we shy away from such veneration of
relics today, it occurred to me that we should have a photograph of Bishop
Schofield on display when we have our own location again.
All Souls Day is the final service in the Triduum of
Hallowmas. In Anglicanism it is called Commemoration
of All Faithful Departed and is an optional celebration; Anglicans view All
Souls' Day as an extension of the observance of All Saints' Day and it serves
to "remember those who have died", in connection with the theological
doctrines of the resurrection of the body and the Communion of Saints. The
prayers appointed for that day remind us that we are joined with the Communion
of Saints, that great group of Christians who have finished their earthly life
and with whom we share the hope of resurrection from the dead
But
Father Dale, when we remember those
who have died, we don’t pray for them do we? The Protestant reformation focused
on the prayer for the church militant and not the church triumphant. Archbishop
Cranmer’s first prayer book (1549) contains the following prayer for the
dead. ‘Grant unto them, we beseech thee,
thy mercy and everlasting peace’.
Yet
the practice of prayer for the dead is
practiced in the Anglican Church. It began to be practiced again as a result of
the horrors of WWI. More recently, at the funeral of Princess Diana, Archbishop
Carey prayed, “May she rest in peace where sorrow and pain are banished, and
may the everlasting light of your merciful love shine upon her; through Jesus
Christ our Lord. Amen.” The Church of
England under Archbishop Rowan Williams on the 10th anniversary of her death
issued this same prayer.
In
the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, Rite I Prayers of the People, we pray, “And we
also bless thy holy Name for all thy servants departed this life in thy faith
and fear beseeching thee to grant them continual growth in thy love and
service; and to grant us grace so to follow the good examples of all thy
saints, that with them we may be partakers of thy heavenly kingdom. In Rite II we
have six different versions of the Prayers of the People and all of them
include prayers for the dead. In our Rite II funeral service we pray this
prayer. “O God, whose mercies cannot be numbered: Accept our prayers on behalf
of your servant and grant him an entrance into the land of light and joy, in
the fellowship of your saints; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.”
We
are told that anything we ask in Christ’s name will be granted. We are told to
come before the throne of grace boldly. We are told to be intercessors for others.
I believe that in this case as Anglicans, we are guided by Tradition and the
Church Universal has been praying for the dead for two millennia. I read this comment regarding an article on
prayer for the dead. “If someone has what seems to be a horrible death, I think
most of us are moved to pray that God was with them and that their suffering
may not have been too great, which is praying for the dead for sure, and even
believing God can act in the past, which he can.” https://www.fulcrum-anglican.org.uk/articles/can-we-pray-for-the-dead/
There
is also reciprocity in us interceding for the dead and the Saints interceding
for us. How many here remember our use of the Litany of the Saints at Easter
Vigil and for All Saints Day when John David was Bishop? I can still see in my
mind’s eye, Danny Farenbacher as crucifer, leading us around the courtyard in
procession as the litany was sung.
The point of this is to offer hope to those of you who have
a burden on your heart that God has placed there for an individual in your
life. For example, I believe that God was involved in preparing Steve Conkle’s
heart for Christ his whole life. This was also true of dear sister Collette Facio.
St. James seems to be a kind of ‘finishing school’ for saints. Sometimes we are
the last stop before entering a new life for many who have struggled their
entire life.
There is no shelf life for prayers. Maybe your prayers for
the salvation of one of your children will be answered after you have passed
on. I would like you to think about someone in your life that God has put on
your heart. The time to witness to them is now. Now is the acceptable time. For
those who have been witnessing, don’t be discouraged…. persist. For those you know who have passed, I don’t
believe the opportunity is lost either. For those of you who have not
reconciled I ask you pray for that person that you may also forgive them. It’s
not too late. God’s Kingdom is the eternal now.
Our proper preface today is, “Almighty God, you have
surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses: Grant that we, encouraged by the
good example of your servant may persevere in running the race that is set before
us, until at last we may with him attain to your eternal joy; through Jesus
Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who lives and reigns with you
and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.”
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