For All the Saints!

O blest communion, fellowship divine! We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; yet all are one in thee, for all are thine. Alleluia. Alleluia.

Today is the Feast of All Saints, a time to remember those who have gone before us and to pray that we may have strength and courage in our own day to follow their example and witness.

Each of us was given the faith we have, however strong or weak that faith may be, by others. From that moment in Mark's Gospel at the empty tomb when the women were too afraid to "go and tell" it is clear that eventually they found their voices; they went and they told someone. And someone told someone else, who told someone else...

...and eventually someone told us. Faith is not words alone, but words-made-flesh. Sometimes people have told us with words about what they believe, but just as often and perhaps even more often they have shown us how to live by their faithful example, without words: finding courage in the face of difficult circumstances, embodying hope in the midst of grief and loss, showing us how to love by loving us even on the days when we have perhaps not been particularly lovable.

For all of them we give thanks on this holy day. May they rest in peace and light perpetual shine upon them.