Wednesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
Of course we know that today is Halloween- I’ll be taking my kids trick-or-treating, and we’ll probably eat copious amounts of candy! Yet today is also the vigil of a very important feast day, All Saints’ Day (November 1st), a day when we remember all those faithful people who have gone before us and who now enjoy heaven and a vision of God. The next day, All Souls’ Day (November 2nd), while not a holy day of obligation, is still an important day of remembering all those who have died, even if they have not yet attained heaven. Indeed, the whole month of November is traditionally a month of remembering our loved ones and others in the church universal who have died.
I love the month of November, with this particular focus and opportunity to remember and honor those who have died. Our belief in the resurrection, and our knowledge that God holds all of time and space, enables us to see our ancestors and all the saints as people who still walk with us today. On November 1st, I’ll be honoring the feast day with a relatively big dinner (as much as I can muster mid-week!), serving favorite foods from those whose faith helps strengthen us in our Christian life today.
Today’s scriptures help us prepare for this great season of remembrance. Today’s gospel (Luke 13:22-30) shows Jesus answering a question about who will be saved. He compares the Kingdom of God to a narrow gate where the last shall be first. Those people who enter by this narrow gate shall be in communion with many other people, including Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the prophets, and many others from north, east, south, and west.
How shall we join in this great communion of saints? In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus constantly alludes to who these “last” are - they are the poor, the ones who are so often ignored. In Luke 16, for example, we read the story of Lazaraus, a poor man, who sees Abraham in heaven. But the wealthy man who had utterly abused and rejected Lazarus finds himself decidedly not in communion and begging to become part of that great friendship.
It would seem, then, that our first large clue toward being part of the communion of saints is to seek genuine communion with others today. Today’s first reading (Ephesians 6:1-9) suggests how we might live in communion today! “Honor your father and mother,” do not provoke your children to anger, do God’s will, stop bullying, be sincere in all that you do.
This is far easier said, than done. Yet another benefit of the communion of saints is that we have so many, many people who have come before us in faith to be examples for us. As we remember our loved ones and our saints, with all their unique stories, funny jokes, favorite meals, and more, may we find in them some examples of how to live in the light of Christ.
- Jana M. Bennett