All Saints - 1st November 2024
The Nuns' Graveyard
Tomorrow morning in our Lauds reading we will hear:
You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. [Heb 12:22-24]
It is a wonderful picture of the gathering of all the faithful into which we are invited. Not something future but something now, ‘You have come’ not ‘will come’ to join with the communion of saints of which we are all part. At All Saints we celebrate those we particularly revere as ‘capital S’ Saints, those who gave their lives in exemplary ways in the service of God, whether officially recognized by the church or not. Then at All Souls we remember all those who have gone before us, particularly those known to us personally, and pray for their continuing growth into the fulness of life in God beyond death. This year of course we are particularly aware of our sisters Mary Owen and Mary John, now gathered into the heavenly assembly. Perhaps it is better to see no distinction between ‘All Saints’ and ‘All Souls’ and to hold these two days together with their different emphases as ‘All Saints-tide’, a single celebration of the whole body of Christ in all its wonderful diversity. We are all both saints and sinners.
Our Lauds reading in fact begins with the word ‘But’, which in the proper way for an Office reader I omitted as it is referring back to something not included in this reading. But it is interesting to look back on what this ‘but’ is referring to. The preceding sentences describe God’s presence on Mount Sinai, ‘a blazing fire, and darkness, and gloom, and a tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that not another word be spoken to them.’. If anyone, even an animal, touched the mountain they were to be stoned to death. Only Moses was called up to meet God on the mountain and even he said ‘I tremble with fear’. [Heb 12:18-21].
But, the writer to the Hebrews goes on, we have come to Mount Zion, to the festal gathering of saints and angels. Through the sprinkled blood of Jesus we can come without fear into the presence of God even though he is the judge of all. We are redeemed, made perfect and can rejoice in the loving gaze of God upon us. It is an image of joy, of light, of fellowship with others both human and angels. All that blocks our access to God and our relationships with others has been washed away.
There is one phrase here that I have found puzzling and in the past have simply ignored, that the sprinkled blood of Jesus has better things to say than the blood of Abel. But this year I decided I should attend to this – what was the blood of Abel saying? Looking back at the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4, the Lord says to Cain ‘Listen; your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground.’ His blood was calling for vengeance. But the blood of Jesus spoke a better word in not calling for vengeance. He accepted an unjust death and forgave those who killed him. Through his death he opened up a new way for humanity to live in love and peace.
We are all called to follow this way of the cross, not to call for vengeance but to turn the other cheek. The world at this time very much needs people who can break the cycle of violence and retaliation, to work for peace. Our monastic life provides us with a crucible within which we are challenged to respond with love when we are hurt or angered. The restraint of speech to which Benedict calls us is an excellent training in turning the other cheek, holding back the words that would hit back and escalate the conflict. As we open our hearts to God’s work the hurt and anger can be gradually transformed so that we are not simply gritting our teeth but allowing God’s love to flow and heal the situation. It is our contribution to bringing peace on earth.
We do not do this alone and I believe that all the saints that we celebrate at this season have ploughed furrows that make it easier for us in our turn to follow this path of love to which God calls us. Even now we are gathered with them in the festal assembly. We may feel few in the large space of our church but it is a space full of presences, of our sisters who have gone before and the myriads of other saints. As we celebrate this feast let us rejoice with them in the bounty of God’s love.
Amen
Mother Anne - 1st November 2024