True confession.
I spent a lot of years as a lay person in the pews – (late vocation).
One thing I was always a bit confused about was the difference between All Saints Day, which we are celebrating today, and All Souls Day.
I finally found a way to remember the difference
All Saints Day – traditionally remembered on November 1st is the celebration of all recognized Saints – the ones the church recognizes as especially holy people. So think of this day as the day we remember Capital “S” Saints.
All Souls Day – traditionally remembered on November 2nd is the celebration of all the faithful departed, all of those we remember and love who have died but are not necessarily formally recognized by the church. Think of this as the day we remember small “s” saints.
By the way – you may be wondering why we are celebrating All Saints – traditionally celebrated on November 1st, today, on November 3rd.
All Saints is what we call one of the “moveable” feasts of the church. We can move it to the closest Sunday, so that more people will get to take part in the celebration.
Because let’s face it – how many people do you think would have showed up on Friday, November 1st at 10am? Now you understand why we are celebrating on November 3rd!
I want to tell you a sweet story about saints that illustrates what big “S” Saints and little “s” saints have in common.
A Sunday School class took kids into church and showed them the stained-glass windows. “Those are pictures of the saints. They are very holy people.”
Later, at the end of the lesson in their classroom, the teacher asked, “Who can tell me what a saint is?”
Danny raised his hand and said, “I know!” The teacher asked Danny to share with us. And he replied, “Saints are the people the light shines through.”
You see, all saints, whether they are capital “S” Saints or small “s” saints are people the light shines through.
We know them because we can see the light of Christ in and through them.
And the more we look for that light in people – the more we see it.
So, I’m going to tell you a few brief stories about some saints – some capital “S” Saints and some small “s” saints.
After my ordination I applied for and received approval for a sabbatical in Europe, studying the Saints where they lived: “Doorways to the Divine – Holy People and Holy Places”
St. Therese of Lisieux
Known as the Little Flower, she is a Capital “S” Saint. She lived in Northern France from 1873-1897. Though she died at the age of 25 – she was canonized and made a Saint by the church.
Urged by her Mother Superior, she wrote a book called, The Story of a Soul – an autobiography.
Her spirituality is known as “The Little Way.”
She says that all the small seemingly insignificant actions of love of which we are capable, take on great value because of the motive behind them which is the ceaseless flow of love between us and God.
If we only fear God, she says, we think God needs to be placated by our deeds, which then becomes our motive.
But God is not to be feared, says Therese. God is merciful love and confidence in that love, means even when we sin, provided we stumble to our feet again and continue our advance toward God, we will be forgiven and God will instantly welcome us home.
St. Ignatius of Loyola
Another capital “S” Saint known as a Man of the Heart. He lived from 1491-1556 in Bonn Loyola, Spain.
As a young man, he wanted a career as a courtier in the King’s court and as a soldier.
He gambled, he brawled, he fought duels, and he was a womanizer – which is why he fought many duels.
He joined the war between Loyola and Pamplona. His leg was shattered by a cannonball.
He spent months and months recovering at home and bored to tears, looked for books in the family library on chivalry. There were only two.
But there were lots on the lives of the Saints and there was a copy of The Imitation of Christ, a spiritual classic by Thomas à Kempis.
Out of boredom he began to read them and was converted. He decided he wanted to be a Knight for God.
He travelled to Montserrat outside of Barcelona to give his life to God.
Then he went to a cave retreating to be with God.
He heard God say to him, “Don’t withdraw from the world, take my love out into the world.”
There in Manresa, he wrote Spiritual Exercises, a book of instructions for living a spiritual life. Even today you can take a 3, 4, 8, or even a 30-day Ignatian retreat based on the book.
Or you can do as I did and buy the book and do the retreat one day at a time at home.
You may remember from last week one practice taken from the Spiritual Exercises: when I mentioned during the gospel that Ignatius encourages us to enter into a gospel story by becoming one of the characters.
To sum up Ignatius’ teaching, it would be: Heart Open to God Heart Open to Others.
Now on to some small “s” saints.
Chris Hooley showed his 11-year-old daughter Kaylee a touching video on YouTube called “Making the Homeless Smile.” Their motto is: It’s the little things we do that make a big difference in the world.
His daughter was mesmerized by it. By the way, I highly recommend watching it, it’s wonderful.
With his daughter’s urging, dad and daughter worked together to create a nonprofit charitable organization. They host street events where they hand out food, water, clothing, and toiletries to the homeless in Phoenix and then they post videos on them on YouTube.
Jackie Waters and her sister Tracy are small “s” saints. Tracy lived a 21-year battle with a rare form of brain cancer. But Tracy was an amazing young woman. She adopted a Superhero presence during her battle which kept her spirits high and showed others how powerful positive thinking can be.
After Tracy died, Jackie, inspired by her sister’s strength, jumped full force into creating “Help Your Hero,” a website that helps children dealing with difficult medical diagnoses to find their inner Superhero and connects parents with important resources to help them as a family.
So let’s be saints that the light shines through, each in our own way. And let’s take that light out in the world for everyone to see.
And here’s a song to inspire us. I’m sure a lot of you grew up with this as I did. It’s #293 in the Hymnal or you can use the handouts I brought.