All Saints Day

We celebrate All Saints Day every year and it amazes me that more people don’t show up for this Mass like they do for Ash Wednesday. We need to come up with something to give away, that would fix it, but what?

We love Ashes reminding us that we are going to die and return to dust.  We love remaindering or mortality.  We love celebrating it in many cultures as we will do tomorrow.  So why no huge celebration today?  We don’t have cakes, parades or really anything.  We have some great songs that folks in New Orleans love, but it just isn’t the same.

Are we afraid of our Baptismal promise of everlasting life?  Do we not really want to claim that?  If not, why?  Is it the work involved, because not doing the work has a scary consequence, hell.

So, what is it about this day?  I really think it is partly disbelief.  We would much rather focus on the bad than the amazing promise of good.  The promise of ever lasting live, is the promise of being a saint.  Could it be that because we have so many amazing saints in the Church that we don’t feel worthy?

I guess it could be that, but think about it, that is the life God is calling us to.  Radical acceptance of the Gospel and what that calls us to accomplish in our lives.  Maybe that is why we don’t have parades and parties today.  This call is a bit scary in that it calls us to action!

In Short

This day doesn’t bring about our festive party nature, but is should.  We have the gift of everlasting life which we are celebrating.  We can ignore it or say we will do our best, but the reality is, we are called to be saints.  From the promise of our Baptism and through the Cross, we have that promise.

We now need to live it!