All Saints' Sunday - Reflection by Canon Leslie

All Saints’ Day, also known as All Hallows’ Day and the Feast of All Saints, is kept by the Anglican Communion, the Roman Catholic Church, and other Western Churches on November 1, and this year falls fittingly on a Sunday. All Saints’ Day is an occasion on which to call to mind, to celebrate, and to give thanks for all the Saints from Christian history, and to acknowledge our share in their heritage.
 
The Gospel reading chosen for All Saints’ Day in the year when the Church follows Matthew’s Gospel in the opening verses of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. These verses contain the famous beatitudes which have been translated in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible to begin as follows:
 
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
            for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
            for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
            for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
            for they will be filled.
 
This powerful recitation of ‘blessing’ inspires us to follow in the footsteps of the Saints and to share in their quality of life.
 
In Matthew’s Gospel the beatitudes introduce the new law that inspires Christian discipleship, and catalogues the blessings on the new way of life empowered by God’s grace. The beatitudes are signposts in God’s kingdom. So to prepare for this Sunday’s service I invited those of you who want to do some thinking beforehand to focus on the image of signposts. In today’s picture from their book Signposts and Symbols Aled and Siân have been following the signs to the stone church.
 
Next week the image to help us prepare for participation in the Sunday service, whether offline in the cathedral or online at home, is candles. You can find out more about that theme here https://www.prayerforliverpool.org/prayer-resources.html. We would really appreciate you letting us know how you are using these materials. Please send us your ideas and photos of the things you may create; email them to [email protected].
 
To read more about Aled and Siân in their book, Signs and Symbols, follow this link to the book on the St. Mary’s Centre website: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/Exploring%20Our%20World%20Series/Signs%20and%20Symbols/Signs%20and%20Symbols%20Short%202016%20WEB.pdf. To explore more books in the Exploring Why series, follow this link also to the St. Mary’s Centre: http://www.st-marys-centre.org.uk/resources/Exploring%20Our%20World.html.
 
We warmly invite you to join us in worship online here:
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Aled and Siân send their Sunday greetings to all.

Canon Leslie