Nov. 2 | All Saints’ Day, Year C
Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18
Psalm 149
Ephesians 1:11-23
Luke 6:20-31
Thomas Merton, a 20th-century Roman Catholic monk, once found himself adrift, convinced that his life was meaningless, and unable to find a way forward. Merton shared his problem during a conversation with a friend. The friend listened intently. After a few silent minutes, he told the monk that if he wanted to find meaning in his life, he needed to seek the ultimate human vocation. Merton inquired what that vocation might be. The friend suggested that he should aspire to be a saint. After seeing Thomas’ obvious pain in response to the suggestion, the friend explained that the only thing he could do to become a saint was to want to be a saint. Merton found this answer much too simplistic. But his spiritual director later confirmed that his friend’s statement was absolutely true.
When we examine their lives, one thing that is consistent is that none of the great saints of history thought of themselves as saints. From their perspective, they were just doing what came naturally in their walk with God. Francis of Assisi gave up wealth and merchant-class power to walk with God and preach repentance. Catherine of Sienna became a nun at age 16 and devoted her life to contemplation and service to the sick and poor. They were not trying to achieve saintly status. We see them as saints because we see the divine shining through the lens of their lives.
By definition, a saint is one who is holy—set apart for God. In the first chapter of St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, we read that saints are called by God; were redeemed through an act of God; and have been consecrated by God through his Holy Spirit. Being a saint is due to three acts by God and no act of our own.
The renowned bishop and preacher Philips Brookes once said, “The saint is [one] in whom God dwells. But God comes to dwell in [human beings] by his Holy Spirit, in the great work of personal regeneration. … You must yield yourself to that power of God which from your birth up until now has been waiting at your heart’s door to enter in and fill your nature with itself … living by Him and for Him, you are one of the living saints.”
The saints show us what the Beatitudes mean, translating the terminology of another era into the timeless language of human experience—lives lived in this world. They show us how to give up our agendas and take up God’s agenda. They knew who was sovereign and yielded to his will regardless of the consequences.
Yet even after turning to Christ, none of these saints was perfect. It was through their dependence, their surrender to Christ, that they grew into the persons who have been acknowledged by the Church to have led lives worthy of emulation. In their lives we see people who have started where we are and have grown closer and closer to God in their walk. Through their lives we see that God can do such a work in us, if we will allow him access to our lives.
Thomas Merton’s friend was correct. We are called to be saints, and to be saints, all we need to do is want to be saints. The work has already been done. All we have to do is say “Yes” with our lives. We are all saints through baptism, and therefore, All Saints’ Sunday is a celebration of a call rather than an achievement.
Look It Up: Ephesians 1:11-14
Think About It: To receive the inheritance of God is to be a saint.
The Rev. Dr. Chuck Alley, former rector of St. Matthew’s Church in Richmond, Virginia, teaches anatomy at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical School.
