Thursday, October 29, 2009

Calling all Saints.....



 This Sunday, Nov. 1st, is the feast of All Saints.
I remember in the Episcopal church, there is a hymn named I sing a song of the saints of God.
One line says Patient and brave and true.
Funny things about this feast.. and commemoration,
 Is that the Gospel compels us to become those saints.
Not by heroic deaths...but by every day living of the Gospel, i.e. the words of Jesus. By claiming to be followers of the Anointed one, the Christ, we have begun the journey to become saints.
So, what does this mean? Good question, no one has ever come up with a definitive answer.
 We must walk this journey in our own way,in our own time..yeah right.... who am I kidding.. it's in God's own way and time..So.. the point of all this?? Good question ...see a pattern here? Questions! Seeking!
These are the workings of a journey..step by questioning step. However for the heroic ones, not much in the way of questions but a definitive active step. In this past Sunday's Gospel reading,we see a blind man,who on hearing that it was Jesus coming to the area, called out to have mercy on him. Now there was no thought that well... MAYBE... if I call he might listen...no. He called out much to the consternation to his friends and on lookers. Jesus came right up to him and said,What can I do for you?
'I want my sight' the blind man said .
 Ok, ok, so why am I mentioning it this way?  Events coming up are trying times for us saints.
Our everyday lives, with health problems,financial worries, all these try to block our journey     on the way to become saints. Saints not to prove anything to ourselves, but saints for others. To even be maybe that onetime saint for someone who is so desperately seeking.
There is a group of young men who are trying to live the Gospel life in such an abandoning way, that it makes this old bishop sit up and take notice. They want to create intentional community,and in that word is the smaller word 'unity'.
 On this saintly road,they have already come upon spiritual obstacles. Doubt, fear, all tools of the Evil one to try and take us off the track of our journey to sainthood.
Now I'm not trying to swell heads here..I am couching what I say here in more of a honest clean faced way like the protestant writers, and writers of the New Testament. They used the word saint like we use the word faith or Jesus. As I have said above we all are called to be saints. Just today,as I was getting my prescriptions filled at Hannaford, with my new insurance plan, my co pay for all meds is 1.00 one dollar. I did not have the money,and the woman behind the counter was going to allow me to take my meds and pay later. A charming lady who loves cats,heard all this and immediately paid the 5.00 total foe my meds. i did not as..she freely gave to a total stranger. It brought me to tears. how good is our God??!! This saint,helped me bolster my own faith,not only in God,but in one another.
  Let us then,like the ones who walked before us, help one another on this journey. Let us be the nameless person like that lady today to help keep each other on the life long road to sainthood. Bumps and potholes included.
 Blessings one and all,
 +Mel