Dear Friends,
On this first Sunday of November, the Saints of God capture our liturgical minds and hearts. We celebrate them all. But who are they, these holy ones of God? Matthew Robb Brown, American essayist, and poet, is also a deacon in the Eastern Orthodox Church and a convert from the Baptist Church. He has studied and learned much about the saints in his faith journey. Here is a piece he wrote. I offer it to help us celebrate All Saints Day in an expansive way.
It is the glory Saints hide in
of the Church blossoms,
that it cannot ride birds, top clouds;
name follow passages
all the saints. under the
earth.
It is the glory
of the Church They sweep the floors
that it cannot of the universe.
remember They take out the garbage
all the saints. of the cosmos.
It is the glory
of Christ The seeds they scatter
that we cannot soften and green the
count hillsides.
all the saints.
Saints are found The faithful
behind all the rocks cling to the roots
of the of the saints,
mountain. growing up
from the ground.
When the darkening world threatens to overwhelm us and we find ourselves without joy, let’s look to the saints, who in their ordinariness became extraordinary messengers of God’s presence and love.
Happy feast!
~ Sister Joan Sobala
