"In the New Testament, the word "saints" is used to describe the entire membership of the Christian community, and in the Collects for All Saints' Day the word "elect" is used in a similar sense. From very early times, however, the word "saint" came to be applied primarily to persons of heroic sanctity, whose deeds were recalled with gratitude by later generations.
Beginning in the tenth century, it became customary to set aside another day--as a sort of extension of All Saints--on which the Church remembered remembered that vast body of the faithful who, though no less members of the company of the redeemed, are unknown in the wider fellowship of the Church. It was also a day for particular remembrance of family members and friends.
Though the observance of the day was abolished at the Reformation because of abuses connected with Masses for the dead, a renewed understanding of its meaning has led to a widespread acceptance of this commemoration among Anglicans, and to its inclusion as an optional observance in the calendar of the Episcopal Church." (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 664).
One day as I was meditating upon the Gospel narrative of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead (see John 11), I came to a new understanding about the work of Jesus. Jesus put a name and face on those who have died. When someone passes away, we grieve and work through the loss. But to some extent we all sort of forget about the person who died. We may remember all of the great things (or not so great things) she or he did, but the individual is gone. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the tomb in a sense, Jesus put a name and face on those who are often forgotten as a result of death.
We commemorate today all those who have gone before us. We remember with love those who cared for and nurtured us. We might remember with pain even those who died not loving us as we might have wished they did. There are those whom we love who have died. Others we really did not love, but who are also dead. Whether we loved them or not, or they loved us or not their memory still lingers in our minds. They are not so forgotten.
Many of us who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning or queer remember today those who have died as a result of HIV/AIDS. Many partners loved their loved ones right up to their deaths. Caring for them night and day, with every nickel and dime until they breathed their last. Many of those people died without last rites. Still others did.
This year we can commemorate those young people who took their own lives because of bullying. In their memories we strive to do all that we can to end bullying.
Every one we remember or have forgotten is someone that God loves very much. God loves all of us, including those who have died. These three days of All Hallows Eve, All Saints and now All Souls are a kind of "triduum" for all of those whom God has redeemed because of God's precious love.
We are given today an opportunity to thank God for all that the Faithful Departed that we remember have given to us as part of God's love that surrounds us on every side. We are given a chance today to remember them with love and hope and to trust them into the loving hands of God once again.
Today is a great day to read and meditate on Wisdom 3: 1-9.
But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment will ever touch them.
In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died,
and their departure was thought to be a disaster,
and their going from us to be their destruction;
but they are at peace.
For though in the sight of others they were punished,
their hope is full of immortality.
Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good,
because God tested them and found them worthy of himself;
like gold in the furnace he tried them,
and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.
In the time of their visitation they will shine forth,
and will run like sparks through the stubble.
They will govern nations and rule over peoples,
and the Lord will reign over them forever.
Those who trust in him will understand truth,
and the faithful will abide with him in love,
because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,
and he watches over his elect.
In the Gospel of John 5: 24-27 we read:
Jesus said, "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life.
"Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. "
If there is one thing we can know and believe in our Christian Faith is that death never has the last word. Jesus does. Because we believe that Jesus is God's perfect revelation, we trust in God to be merciful and compassionate, understanding and all loving. Because we believe in a loving and merciful God, we also believe that God has more compassion for all God's people, than we are capable of comprehending. We can therefore trust our faithful departed as well as ourselves into God's care.
O God, the Maker and Redeemer of all believers: Grant to the faithful departed the unsearchable benefits of the passion of your Son; that on the day of his appearing they may be manifested as your children; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect for All Souls, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 665).
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