I sort of feel bad for November 2nd. It gets lost in the flurry of activity surrounding October 31st, All Hallow's Eve (Halloween), and November 1st, All Saints' Day. November 2nd on our church calendar is the feast of commemoration of all faithful departed. It is strange to me that All Saints' and All Faithful are two different events, but I guess I get it; saints are officially recognized by the church while all the faithful departed (who God sees as saints) aren't.
It struck me as I read the Revelation reading for All Saints' I (BCP). We see in it the way John differentiates between All Saints' and All Souls; the 144,000 from each tribe is a number close to the amazing number of Catholic Saints (tee-hee) while the countless multitude reminds of us the great cloud of witnesses whose memory we honor this day.
My theology is based in Web 2.0. I truly believe that left to its own devices humanity could do something decent. I think that a flattish world is better than a world full of strata. So I can't differentiate between those who get the title Saint and those who don't. Where are the lines between a major feast saint like Paul, a lesser feast saint like Teresa of Avila, a non-canonical saint like Mike Yaconelli, and a (to the rest of the world) no-name faithful departed like Bud whose life we celebrated here yesterday? I can't find it. I don't see how we can differentiate between All Saints and All Souls.
So, for me, today is the major feast day. Today take a moment to recall the countless multitude who have praised God in this life and continue to do so in the life to come. Remember those who "have perished as though they had never existed," and give thanks for their righteous works which have brought the Kingdom of God just a little bit closer.
3 comments:
We did the All Saint's readings today so I could be confused, but the readings you linked look like they are for next week (the 11th).
Bah, it looks like it deleted the post where I tried to leave an actual comment about your observations. I think you are right on about how All Saints and All Souls being on two different days is odd. Dividing the faithful into classes after death (church triumphant and church expectant) isn't something we should encourage. Such snobbery belongs in the pub where I can feel better about myself by looking down my nose at your choice of cheap and tasteless beer.
the readings linked above are for the 11th. you'll find the link for a weeks readings at the beginning of the week. anyway, thanks for the thoughts on the faithful departed. i had forgotten the break-up of militant, expectant, and triumphant - a good reminder. oh, and where i live now, the fact that i drink blue moon makes me a beer conneseur.
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