Sunday of All Saints

Live Audio File June 11, 2023

How Do We Decide Who is a Saint?

1st Sunday after Pentecost is dedicated to all the saints. We often tend to look at the saints in awe, like we are spectators in the stands watching professional athletes who have trained and performed and are at the top of their game. But notice that we have this completely reversed.

We are the ones in the arena.

The saints are the spectators, cheering us on. We are running the race – they have finished their race. Now is our time! It is up to us to take seriously this race we run in front of God and all of heaven, with the huge crowd of angels and saints cheering us on, doing all they can to help and encourage us! We run our race. No-one else can run it for us. The effort we put in now will pay eternal rewards.

The saints are greatly varied in their talents and giftings, but they all have one thing in common: they follow Christ with all their heart mind and soul. There are as many paths to sainthood as there are saints, and there are millions of these saints – a great cloud of witnesses, as Paul says in his epistle today.

Today, June 11, we remember and ask for help from those saints gone before us, those who have successfully traveled the road leading to Christ and the kingdom of God and are calling out for us to join them. Through the prayers of all the saints, Lord Jesus Christ have mercy and save us.”

Fr Andrew, excerpt from St. Aidan June 2023 Newsletter.