31st Sunday Year B

31st Sunday Year B – All Saints Day

Who, here, is thinking that this weekend is all about celebrating the lives of all the saints that have gone before us, that have ever lived? And who is thinking, that it is all going to be about Halloween and all of the Americanisms that go with that: ghosts, ghouls, tricks, treats and potential nastiness or unpleasantness?

This weekend is the huge feast of All Saints, when we take example of all those men, women and children who have gone before us, living their lives full of the love of God and full of the love of their neighbour. Saints – all saints. Men, women and children of their time and of ours. Not solely dressed in long robes with long hair and longer beards – the men that is, not the women and children! All people  who have lived saintly lives.

In other words, people who have lived out our gospel for this weekend in their everyday lives: they have loved God and their neighbour and shown this love by what they have said and by what they have done.

By what they have said and by what they have done. They have translated their belief, their faith, into actions. They have taken the guidance of the Holy Spirit and shown this love in their everyday lives, speaking about God and showing His love and His mercy for them, by how they have acted and interacted with each other.

How have they done this? Well by how they have invited and welcomed others in; included them in their lives and daily situations; cared for them and shared with them; taken pity on them; fed them and given them water to drink; visited them when they were poorly, housebound, sick or in prison; or simply befriended them when they needed a listening ear or a shoulder upon which to lean. When they have been in need of someone, these people, these saints, were there.

When we break it down like this, into this list of actions, this list of good deeds, I don’t think that it then sounds impossible to emulate, to re-create, to copy or to use as an example in and for our own lives. We certainly live in times when all of these things are needed!

They were guided by the Holy Spirit. They called on the Holy Spirit to guide, to guard and to protect them through and along their life-journeys. They lived their lives, celebrating Jesus as their one and true Saviour. They ensured that people knew that what they were doing, how they were doing it and most importantly, why they were doing it – was all, in love of God, by and through their love of God and His love of and for them.

Think not just of the saints of old but think of our modern-day saints too. Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II and remember also the relics of the modern-day, jeans-wearing young man that we celebrated most recently here in our own Diocese, , Blessed Carlo Acutis. A young man born in London, who grew up in Italy and died suddenly of leukaemia in 2006. A true saint of our time who offered up his life, his suffering, his example, his love and his laughter – yes, his laughter, his joy with life and living itself. His continued celebration of everything that he had been given and recognising each and every part as the gift from God that it was and offering it back to Him with every bit of interest he could gather through its interaction with the people he encountered in his life-journey.

All of our Saints are examples for and to us. Real examples. Real examples that we can then emulate. Real examples because what they did, we too can do! Yes, we can! We don’t need to have arrows shot at us, or have our arms broken and twisted. We don’t need to be hung, drawn or quartered. We don’t need to be burnt at the stake or any such horrible tortures or deaths: we don’t need to do any of these things.

We DO need to stand up and to give witness to what we believe, with courage and confidence.

We DO need to shout out loud in what we say and what we do, that God is good; that God loves me and every one of us and that God is there for us, if we but turn to Him and call out His name.

We Do need to check and challenge what we know to be untrue and false.

We Do need to live our lives as witnesses to God’s love for humanity.

We DO need show our love for our neighbour in the many little things we can do and as often as possible. Remember the days of Covid when we looked after our neighbours especially those that were old or infirm? Remember when we used to call in with shopping or just the friendly chat from don the path. Remember! Remember how good they felt and remember how good you felt.

We DO need to meet in groups of two or more, to come together in Christ’s name and to pray as He taught us. We DO need to make use, more use, of the times to call in and pray for a few moments in church when and where we can. Again, remember those dark days when we couldn’t come to church because of Covid and ensuing Lockdown? Remember how bad and lonely and isolating that felt?

We DO need to live our lives as the Church and the Community of Christ, full of love, of understanding, of care and of worship. We DO need more of the celebration of Nationalities that we had the other week – when we open our eyes and our hearts and minds to all of those around us, of different coloured skins or who have different accents or dialects, who come to pray and worship in the same building as us but with whom we have so very little direct and deliberate contact. We DO need to turn to them and say aloud and deliberately, SHALOM CHAVERIM. L’HIT RAOT – Peace my brother or sister until we meet again.

We DO need to proclaim that we are saved: that Christ lived and died for us; that he rose from the dead for us and that He saved us from our sins. That we are saved!

This weekend we celebrate and remember the lives of all of the saints who have gone before us. May we, like them, live our lives, in love of God. Amen

Bidding Prayers

1.      That we seek out ways that we can show God’s love for us, for me to everyone that we meet through our loving words and actions. Lord in your mercy

2.      That we look to identify those on the edges of our society who are in greatest need and do what we can, where we can and when we can to help them. Lord in your mercy

3.      That Church and World Leaders come together to create a time and place of peace and security for all peoples especially those in war-torn parts of the world such as the Middle-East, the Ukraine and across Africa. Lord in your mercy

4.      That our parishes work together better and more effectively to become a stronger, more loving and more supportive community in Christ. Lord in your mercy

5.      That we allow others the opportunities to come forward and to share their skills, their strengths and their love with us when and where they can and to ease the overall burden by sharing the loads. Lord in your mercy

6.      That those who are sick or housebound, lonely or felling forgotten are comforted by our prayers and our effective actions. Lord in your mercy

7.      That those who have died recently or around this time achieve eternal rest with their heavenly Father and that their families, friends and relations are comforted in this knowledge. Lord in your mercy

8.      That Mary our Mother and the Mother of the Church joins her prayers with ours as we now say together, Hail Mary. . . .