Today, we celebrate All Saints Day.  We remember well-known saints whose lives give us knowledge and encouragement.  We are thankful for people who have been saints to us but have not been recognized as saints by some official organization. 

In September, my wife, Jan, and I took a trip to Ireland. It was called a Celtic pilgrimage. We visited the ruins of monasteries that were built in the Fifth to the Seventh century.  We visited places of famous saints like Patrick and Brigid.  And we learned about dedicated Christians I didn’t know whose work impacted the lives of many. The ruins were interesting but the stories we heard were fascinating.  There is always a new story of saints who lived as faithful followers of Jesus, people who give us inspiration and encouragement on our journeys. Over the course of three centuries the Celtic Christian movement changed Ireland and brought Christianity to Scotland and Northern England. As Daniel Callahan once wrote, through their dedicated copying of scripture and other tests, they saved European civilization. These saints were courageous as exemplified by the time Patrick lit an Easter fire on the Hill of Plane within view of the kings castle on a hill not far away despite the decree that only the king could start such a fire. 

Sadly the work of these saints came to an end some centuries later when marauders attacked the monasteries and killed many of the followers.  The saints who led these monasteries made a difference in the lives of the people of their time. Their achievements earned them sainthood in the eyes of the church and I am sure they are in heaven now. But it was their work on earth that mattered, their efforts to bring God’s kingdom to life in their own communities.  

There is a theme that can be found in each of today’s scripture passages.  It speaks of the saints of God here on earth. It tells of their actions despite the many forces of evil that make practicing Christianity difficult. The reading from Daniel tells about the evil “four great beasts, four kings shall arise out of the earth. But the holy ones of the Most High (the saints) shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever—for ever and ever.”

The apostle Paul wrote similar words to the Ephesians, “I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints.”  The saints were people who were living at the time, the followers of Jesus.  

In Paul’s 1st letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote to the Church of God in Corinth to those called to be saints. He began with these words,  “We are saints in this time and this place.  It is not about being good so we can obtain some later goal.  It is about how we do God’s work today.”

There is no question that Jesus came to support and encourage the poor, the sick, and those who are mistreated. I do not consider myself part of that group. But the words in Luke today are not just about the economic issues that people face.  

In today’s gospel, Jesus speaks about those who are Blessed. The word Blessed can be tossed around sometimes losing its meaning. When we say Blessings, we usually mean May God bless you. We often think these are words for the future. We think Blessed means that at some future time the poor people will receive wealth. But Jesus didn’t speak that way. He said Blessed are. The words suggest that something is happening to the downtrodden today. You are blessed now. The life of poor people is difficult. Still, I wonder if it would be better for us to hear those words as unburdened, you don’t have to carry problems with you.  

We are drawn to the third blessing. “Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy.”  We all experience times when people hate us.  The anger seems so thick these days, like an early morning fog that won’t go away. Jesus said to us that while we must protect ourselves, we don’t have to carry the burden. We don’t have to join in the anger and the rhetoric. We can be gracious.  

Likewise when we hear the woes, I think it would be better for us to hear Jesus saying watch out. Be careful. For, having wealth and being successful brings with it burdens of its own. We have to worry about protecting our wealth from some unseen circumstance like a hurricane or from some predator or from some economic downturn. I am not suggesting that poor people should be happy with what they have. But as people of this culture, we think we always have to have more, we are taught that what we have is not enough.  I saw the impact of our culture so clearly on visits I made to Honduras and El Salvador. I met people that I would consider to be very poor.  But they carried a joy, a happiness. You could see it in their faces. They were happy for what they had and happy for the love of God in their lives. As we have heard this last month it is about gratitude.

We are not always comfortable thinking of ourselves as part of this community of saints. We are not good enough. We have too many faults, we have committed too many sins. I think our reading of history might cause a part of our problem. History is important to us and yet history might give us the wrong impression sometimes. I know that Winston Churchill shared the view that “History is written by Victors”. Is it possible that the history of saints has been embellished by well meaning people in ways that cause us to think we are unworthy?

On our trip, We took a boat to Scullery Island and heard about St. Senan.  The story is told about a great and dangerous sea monster that inhabited the Island. Saint Senan went to the top of the highest hill on the island, and sent the sea creature away with the sign of the cross.  A Druid priest was sent by the local king to cast a spell on Senan, but a huge tidal wave came up and the druid priest was washed out to sea.  

We visited the beautiful National Park called Glenda Lough. St. Kevin came to this area to be alone. One Kevin story was retold some 25 years ago in a poem by the Nobel prizewinner Seamus Heaney, ‘St Kevin and the Blackbird’, relates the story of Kevin holding out his hand with trance-like stillness while a blackbird builds a nest in it, lays eggs, the eggs hatch and the chicks fledge.  

Is it possible that the full story is found in the efforts of saints to deal with their own personal challenges?   

Many saints found their callings out of their own failings, their own mistakes, their own sins. The story is told that Columba copied a book of Psalms while under the leadership of an Abbott called Finian of Moville.  Columba decided that the Psalter was his to keep but Finian said that he owned it.  The legend is that this dispute got out of hand and eventually a battle was fought over the Book of the Psalter.  Columba had powerful friends and they helped him get what he thought was his due.  Out of this overblown argument, Columba either felt guilty or was punished.  He ended up leaving Ireland and going to Scotland. He started the monastery at Iona which exists to this day.  And from Iona the gospel of Jesus was spread to many parts of Scotland and northern England. In dealing with his own challenges, Columba helped others find God through Jesus Christ.  

Today we remember those who mean so much to us in our own faith journey. The apostle Paul described the followers of God as a community of saints. Richard Rohr  wrote that when the words the communion of saints were added to the creed, our ancestors suggested that the dead are at one with the living.

As this community of saints, May we be a haven of peace in a time of anger and violence. May we be a community of hope to those who struggle economically. May we be a place of learning and faith for those who search for God through Jesus Christ. Amen.