Remembering the Saints
Prayer
I will praise God in
every moment, and through every situation.
Through my words and
action, my life will pay tribute to God.
Whenever the poor and
humble hear of God’s greatness, they will celebrate, too!
Come and lift up God’s name with me; let’s praise God’s name together! Amen.
~ Christine Longhurst. re:Worship blog. Inspired by Psalm 34:1-3 (The Voice translation)
Matthew 5: 3-11
“Happy are people who are
hopeless, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs. “Happy are people who
grieve, because they will be made glad. “Happy are people who are humble,
because they will inherit the earth. “Happy are people who are hungry and
thirsty for righteousness, because they will be fed until they are full. “Happy
are people who show mercy, because they will receive mercy. “Happy are people
who have pure hearts, because they will see God. “Happy are people who make
peace, because they will be called God's children. “Happy are people whose
lives are harassed because they are righteous, because the kingdom of heaven is
theirs. “Happy are you when people insult you and harass you and speak all
kinds of bad and false things about you, all because of me.
Musing
All Saints, a day that I have always liked to celebrate when I was
serving a local church. I’d something relate it to either the saints of the
universal church, or to my personal saints, or to modern saints or to saints of
other faiths. I’d always work in a time of remembering and celebrating the
saints of the congregation I was serving both past and recent and I usually had
a time for people to remember and celebrate their personal saints and
significant folks who they wanted to remember.
I’d have people bring a picture or come to a prayer station or have
a reflective time for lighting a candle. I’d post or project images of the
saints. We’d do a litany where at certain pauses people would name names for
remembrance. More so then any other day of the year All Saints is the day I
reflect on those that have gone before that have most impacted and influenced
my life. Memorial Day is more about war dead and national remembrances and the
obligation to remember family who have pasted. I do find it a meaningful day,
but All Saints is special, it is the day I hold close the memories and spirits
of those that have helped me form and deepen my faith.
When I first began serving churches over 3 decades ago, I
struggled with having the Beatitudes as the Gospel of the day for All Saints. It
didn’t initially make sense to me. But as I wrestled with it in the context of
All Saints the connection emerged. Those that had the greatest spiritual impact
upon me were those beginning described in this passage. They were the hopeless
ones that kept hope alive. The grivers who helped show me life. The humble who
helped me understand true authority. The merciful who helped me comprehend the
power of compassion. The pure hearted who pulled aside the thin vail and let me
see the holy. The peacemakers who forever embodied the true path to
transformation of our world. And of course, they are the ones that helped me
see that the beloved of God will not be well received by those that embody all
that is opposite to these things.
On All Saints I remember the saints, known and unknown, named and
unnamed, familiar and famous. I remember the ones that parted the fog and
showed me the light. I remember those that formed me in the faith. I celebrate
these gifts of God to me, to us, to the world and to history even if no one
else remembers them. This year I won’t be gathered in a sanctuary with the
faithful singing “For All The Saints” but I will celebrate them, I will
remember them, and I will pledge once again to try and live the faith they
mentored me in. Let us pray:
Prayer
God of life and of
truth,
Your Child invites us to see the world through your eyes
and we find ourselves
disoriented:
You bless the poor; You
bless the meek; You bless the pure in heart;
You turn our world and its values upside down.
We have signed on to
follow your Child but this is strange territory.
It doesn’t look anything like the life we have been taught to
yearn for,
to work for, to
believe will bring us happiness.
Yet, You know the
despair that besets so many of your beloved
who fear that their future has been mortgaged by our greed and
carelessness.
You hear the cries of
those who have traded their souls for power and money
and now have emptiness as a friend.
You see those who are
caught in lives that lead only to weariness and anxiety.
Set us at Jesus’ feet
so we can learn to judge our lives differently.
Awaken in us that hunger and thirst for you
which will lead us to
your will and your peace.
Open our eyes to see
your unexpected blessings.
Open our hearts to welcome you when you come to us in strange
ways.
Then make us into a
community of blessedness
that beckons our neighborhoods into your joy.
We ask these things
in the name of Jesus who blesses us with your living presence
and fills our lives with your life-changing
truth. Amen.
~ posted on Christine Jerrett. https://christinejerrett.wordpress.com/
Image: All Saints - Elizabeth Wang Copyright @ Radiant Light
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