Friday, November 3, 2017

All Saints Day Year A 2017


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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