Feast of All Saints

“See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are … what we shall be has not yet been revealed.” First Letter of Saint John, 3:1-3

When I was growing up in my hometown of Danville, Illinois, a woman named Kathryn Randolph was very dear to our family. She became nationally known for her work as the theater and drama coach for such famous people as Dick Van Dyke and his brother Jerry, Gene Hackman, Donald O’Connor, and Helen Morgan. And while my dad never achieved national fame by any means, he was a regular in many of her local productions when I and some of my siblings were young.

What distinguished this marvelous theater coach, however, was far more than her exceptional talent as a teacher and dramatist. Kathryn was also a woman who never sought acclaim or adulation. Instead, she preferred to donate her time and talent to young people who otherwise would never have had the opportunity to experience the joys and skills that the world of drama and theater can provide.

For example, Kathryn was not Catholic, but donated her time to teach the students of our Catholic grade and high schools. She asked for no particular attention or any kind of accolades publicly acknowledging her time and talent freely given. She was simply always and ever a woman of obvious kindness and graciousness.

To me, and so many others, she was the very epitome of all that we deem as “Christian.”
Today is the feast of ALL saints, not just the “biggies.” It’s a feast that recognizes the “little” people who never will be officially acclaimed a capital “S” saint by any church. Yet, they are people in our lives who stand out for being especially kind and caring, generous and noble.

They are the “little” saints that donate their lives to parent, to teach, to console, to reach out to the “least of these,” to lift up the disconsolate, to encourage the fearful, to enlighten those in darkness, to feed the hungry, to house the homeless.

These “little” saints, like Kathryn Randolph, never ask for rewards or attention or acclaim. They just want to be present when someone’s alone, to be cheerful when someone’s sad, to be encouraging when someone’s unmotivated.

This is what this Feast Day is all about. The idea for it, so I’ve read, comes from Ireland. From ancient times, Celtic people have had a sense of what they call “thin places” – spaces where the veil between worlds becomes permeable – spaces where heaven and earth meet.

It’s not that God somehow magically becomes more “there” in these places than in others; rather, something about these “thin places” enables a veil within us to fall away: to see, to hear, to pay attention, to become present to the God who is always present to us.

This celebration today – the Feast of All Saints – has historically been one of these “thin places” in our Christian year. It has its roots in a Celtic festival that fell at a time when the gates between the worlds were thought to become open and where past and present meet.

Today is certainly one in which we honor and praise all those famous people who have been officially designated “saints.” It is surely a day in which we stand in awe of their ability to selflessly and nobly gift the world with their total dedication to God’s awesome and indescribable  love for each one of us.
And, it is also a day to honor the “little” saints – the moms and dads, the grandmas and grandpas, the teachers, the medical people, the police, the judges, the many, many numerous people who dedicate their lives to helping others to achieve health and happiness and wholeness.

To the Kathryn Randolph’s of this world, to the countless number of dedicated soldiers and servants of so many professions, to the nameless millions who reach out to help those who are hungry and homeless … this is not just the feast day of the great hallowed, officially designated “saints.”

This is yours as well.  
Happy Feast Day!   
 
NOTE:
Msgr. Doug Hennessy, a retired priest living in Bloomington, IL., had a very perceptive article in last Sunday’s Bloomington Pantagraph newspaper concerning the issue of “What does it mean to be pro-life?” Here is that article:

https://www.pantagraph.com/opinion/columnists/father-doug-hennessy-pro-life-more-than-single-position/article_59f07518-723b-5c99-b03b-8a44a0a678a0.html
 
PRAYER BEFORE AN ELECTION:
 
Lord God, as the day of our election approaches, we seek to better understand the issues and concerns that confront our cities, states, and country. We especially implore you to make us fully aware of how the Gospel message of Jesus Christ compels us to respond as faithful people in our community.

We ask for eyes that are free from blindness so that we might see each other as sisters and brothers, equal in dignity, especially those who are victims of abuse and violence, deceit, and poverty.

We ask for ears that will hear the cries of children unborn and those abandoned, men and women oppressed because of race or creed or gender. We ask for minds and hearts that are open to hearing the voice of leaders who will bring us closer to your Kingdom.

We pray for discernment so that we may choose leaders who hear your Word, live your love, and keep the ways of your truth as they follow in the steps of Jesus and his Apostles and guide us to your Kingdom of justice and peace.

We ask this in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
 

ART BY JIM MATARELLI