All the Saints

I love the old classical hymn, "Sing With All The Saints In Glory."  The text of the hymn invites us into a reflection, and a relationship, which the holy men and women have shared, and continue to share in their intercession for us.  While we ask them to pray for us because of their unique position before the Father, we also stand in awe as we contemplate their faithful lives by which they witnessed to all that they had seen and heard in their relationship with Jesus.

Some of these saints were great mystics and theologians, while others were monks and nuns, hardly noticed outside their communities.  All will tell of their sinfulness and the need of the grace and blessing of Jesus Christ.  I always smirk when I think about Augustine's prayer, "Make me chaste - but not yet."  Or even Francis who threw himself into a patch of briers when physical temptations became too great.  These are very human people, the saints whom we honor, who offer us a model of walking our journey with Jesus Christ.  For these people the Beatitudes are not simply a text out of scripture nor a theological premise.  They become a springboard of faith in which we can launch into life.

Jan Richardson is a poet, artist, and blogger.  She offers this verse on the celebration of our holy brothers and sisters:

For those
who walked with us,
this is a prayer.

For those
who have gone ahead,
this is a blessing.

For those
who touched and tended us,
who lingered with us
while they lived,
this is a thanksgiving.    

 

This text is a reminder that this great 'cloud of witnesses' now possess a unique and intimate perspective of the Holiness of God.  Their earthly life had offered us a challenge and an invitation to transformation.  On that same journey they now pray for us on our journey of faith.  As the Preface for today's Mass reminds us these models of faith invite us through their inspiration and supplication to join them at the banquet table in heaven.  So in the meantime we continue to sing with all the saints in glory.