Saint _____________ (Fill in the Blank)

All Saints’ Sunday

Luke 6:20-31

St. Matthias

November 3, 2019

           I have been thinking about the Saints this week – not just because the Feast of All Saints was on Friday or because today is All Saints Sunday.  I have been thinking about Saints this week because on Tuesday my Uncle Alvin became one.  Actually, he was a saint BEFORE then because that’s the way it works.  There are those people in our lives who change us for the better – whose stories we remember and tell over and over again – and who bring us closer to heaven.  And for some reason we don’t give them the title until the chorus of all the Saints welcome them to heaven.  But let’s be honest – Saints are Saints because of who they were on earth. 

There are the popular ones like Saint Peter, Julian of Norwich, Mother Teresa, St. Francis and many others we can all name.  There are days officially designated as times when we stop and honor their lives.  On Monday we celebrated the Feast of St. Simeon and St. Jude.  There are patron saints who offer to us great examples for moments in our lives when we need to know that God is with us.  St. Jude is the patron saint of lost causes – or actually he is the patron saint of HOPE when it looks like all is lost.  St. Matthias is OUR parish patron saint and also the patron saint of tailors, carpenters, reformed alcoholics, and those afflicted with smallpox.  I have always thought of St. Joseph of Cupertino as one of my personal saints because he is the patron saint of pilots.  He was a Franciscan priest who lived in Italy in the 1600’s and was known as “The Flying Friar.”  Now since the Wright Brothers didn’t celebrate the first successful flight in an airplane until 1903, you should assume – and you would be right – that St. Joseph just flew – which he reportedly did quite often and was almost burned at the stake during the Inquisition because his superiors assumed that anyone who loved to fly must be possessed by demons!  Some other saints who you might find a bit odd are St. Vitus – the patron saint of Oversleeping; St. Arnold – the patron saint of beer drinkers; and St. Barbara – the patron saint of anything that goes BOOM. 

And of course – St. Alvin my uncle is also one of my personal patron saints because he is one of the people who I am named after.  St. Alvin my uncle was named for his father – St. Alvin of Mansfield, Louisiana who is my grandfather on my father’s side – and who I was named for as well.  My middle name is Alvin and so I am DOUBLE SAINTED.  I am also the last of the ALVINS in our family line because I just didn’t think Stefanie Alvin would work for my daughter and I am sure she appreciates that. And today we celebrate Uncle Alvin and all the many others who are our personal saints.  All Saints Sunday is the Feast of the people who bring us closer to God – closer to Heaven. 

Now my Uncle Alvin would have been the last person to have thought of himself as a saint.  That’s the way saints are.  They are always putting other people first.  They are poor – not because they don’t have any money – but because they tend to put others and what they need before themselves.  Saints are hungry now FOR all the ways they can help make the world a better place.  And they weep now because saints see all the potential OF LOVE and know that we would see Heaven on earth if we would stop for a moment and love our neighbors as much as God loves us.  Saints are experts at loving the world – one person at a time. 

This is what Jesus wanted his disciples to know in our Gospel lesson from Luke this morning.  Jesus had called the 12 disciples and they followed and now they would proclaim the Good News.  Jesus tells the disciples that we are to love and do good and bless even those who curse us.  Turn your cheek, give your coat and your shirt to someone who is cold.  Give and do to others as you would have them do to everyone.  Sounds like heaven on earth and Saints have that figured out.  Live on earth just like heaven will be.

But we need to make sure we know that Saints don’t just die and that is that.  Every Sunday we proclaim in the Nicene Creed that we believe in the Resurrection of the Dead and the life of the world to come and that means now and in eternity.  I am quite certain that as we feed the hungry and welcome the stranger at St. Matthias – those who were here in the beginning are still here and sharing that same love of God.  Saints speak to us not in words we hear with our ears – but in our hearts in whispers that call us to follow Christ.  And there are even those saints who we know and love who we still see day after day, and they bring us closer to God.  They love as Christ loves us – they hunger for everyone to experience New Life – and they remind us just how close heaven actually comes to earth every time we see them.  Today we celebrate All the Saints and that can include you and me.  I wouldn’t suggest adding Saint to your name just yet – but you can love others.  Don’t start picking out what you will be the patron saint of – just do it all for now.  Live every day as if you are going to be a Saint.  And who knows – you might get your own day – or better yet you get to join St. Uncle Alvin and ALL the Saints in Glory who we celebrate today.  Sounds like Heaven on earth to me.  AMEN.