Celebrating All Saints

Nov. 1, 2009
(This post is dedicated to Stani Burchartz, 1991-2006)

Today is the Festival of All Saints. All Saint’s Day is Nov. 1, the day after Halloween, or All Hallow’s Eve, but is traditionally celebrated in worship on the first Sunday in November. All Hallow’s Eve is linked to a Celtic celebration of Samhain, which recognized the end of longer days and the beginning of shorter days. It is said that the Celts believed that the boundaries between this world and the world of the dead became blurred at this time of the year, and the spirits of the dead might pass more easily between the two realms. Dressing in costume was done to ward off the bad spirits by appearing to BE an evil spirit. Historically, the Church chose this time to remember the saints.

As Lutherans, we believe we are ALL saints AND sinners. We believe in a community of saints; that as we partake in Holy Communion, our table extends beyond the concrete and physical walls of our present church out into time and space, where we are joined together with all of the living and departed family of God in an unending banquet feast hosted by Jesus Christ.

On the Festival of All Saints, we have a tradition of reading the names of those members of Saint Andrew who have died. When Pastor Fred accepted the call to pastor our congregation, he added the practice of ringing a handbell with the reading of each name. This year, we added the practice of lighting a tealight candle for each name read and then allowing the congregation to come forward and light a tealight candle for anyone they wanted to remember as a saint of God. This gives us all the opportunity to recognize those people in our lives, living or dead, who shine with the light of Jesus Christ as a saint among us.

While many of those names read each year are of people I do not know, I know some of them through the stories of their faithful ministry to this congregation. In recent years, a few names very near and dear to me have been added to this list. I find it comforting to know they will be remembered here always. The day-to-day world may move on and forget, but the Church will remember its saints.

While this act of remembrance is important, it can also be painful. Some years it is easier to hear the names of those I love and miss. Other years, like this one, I am overcome with loss and the tears well up and spill over against all my attempts to remain composed. However, it is exactly here, in this family of St. Andrew, where I am then comforted by those around me…and I am allowed to lovingly remember the beauty and faithfulness of children of God taken from us too soon. But it is also through the wonder and beauty of this Festival of All Saints, that we are reminded that our feelings of loss are but temporary, as we will one day be joined together again with our loved ones in an eternal celebration of the life and abundance of the love of God, through our Savior Jesus Christ.