By Fr. Mike Boutin
Sing along to "For All the Saints."
Greet all the saints in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:21)
Salem, MA is ground zero for Halloween activities....all the goblins, ghouls, ghosts, and witches of all shapes and sizes make their way to Salem for a ghoulishly devilish night of trick or treating every October 31st.
So it's easy to forget the Christian roots of All Hallow's Eve, the Feast of All Hallows, or All Saints. On November 1st, Christians rejoice in all the saints, named and unnamed, who live in the eternity of God's love in heaven. We remember famous saints like Francis, and Theresa, and Benedict, and Peter and Paul, but we also remember all our beloved dead who now are before God in eternity.
Those are the ones we first think of when we use the word "saints": St. Catherine of Siena, pray for us....St. Peregrine, pray for us.....St. Matthew pray for us....all holy men and women, pray for us....
But when St. Paul addresses the Christians living in Philippi, he calls them "saints": baptized into Christ's life and death, we are saints....today....now....in this world....
No delayed payment plan: baptism makes us saints....now....
Sounds strange to us, doesn't it: I'm a saint....you are a saint...and as hard as it is to believe, so is your boss...your mother-in-law...even, perish the thought, your teenager....
But do we live that way every day? Do we treat one another like saints? Do we live truly saintly lives? When the world looks at me, does it see "St. Mike" or does it see something else?
My grandmother was one of those living saints: a truly gentle spirit. I remember her hands: making Sunday dinner, drawing pictures for me at the kitchen table, sewing a button when my mother was just too busy, patching torn jeans that I had ripped again, playing the piano for all of us at family gatherings, and making life perfect just by being my grandmother.
She wasn't especially "pious," but she lived her faith in love, especially as she loved all of us in Christ, her own grandchildren, definitely her saints.
I want to live that way...looking at the world through my grandmother's eyes...filled with love, and kindness, and holy goodness...I want to live like a saint....
Lord, make me a saint in this world...today....now....
Now pray.....
Father Mike Boutin is the co-pastor of the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, Walpole, MA, and travels widely, leading pilgrimages throughout the world to various Catholic religious sites. He is a frequent speaker on liturgy, music, spirituality, and pastoral ministry.
11/3/2009 5:00:00 AM
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