By Father Chris Mason
If you live in a large family or grew up in a large family you probably have a
sense of what the Church venerates at the Festival of All Saints. The festival expresses the spiritual union of those who, having proffered their faith in the living Christ, had entered into a closer presence with the risen Lord. The saints of God are knit together in the mystical body of Jesus, our Lord.
A saint is anyone who has been saved and set apart for holy use. A person becomes one of the “saints” through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus’ shed blood on the cross. Saints are set apart for holy use. We are saints of God through a deep and sincere belief in Jesus’s resurrection. Hymn #287 in the 1982 Hymnal “For All the Saints” expresses thegifts, love, and profound joy of All Saints in our Christian Calendar. The following verse from that hymn sums up the mission of the saints of God in a sin-sick world:
“O blest communion, fellowship divine! We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
and all are one in thee, for all are thine. Alleluia! Alleluia!”
The Gospel appointed for All Saints is from Matthew 5: 11-12, where he tells the disciples about future suffering and joy:
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
What qualities from the scripture most resonate with you, who are called a “Saint of God?”
Prayer: Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and Godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. AMEN.
Комментарии