All Saints

Today is All Saints’ Day in much of Christendom. Most churches that observe it will do so tomorrow since we tend not to do weekday feast days.

Venerating those who have died for the faith began very early in Christianity, almost as soon as the Jesus Movement started. During the Roman persecutions of the late first and throughout the second century, many chose death rather than renounce their faith. Pretty quickly, the places of their birth or their martyrdom began to be venerated along with them and then churches began to be built on or near those spots. After the Peace of the Church in 313, martyrdom virtually disappeared, but the definition of saints changed a bit and the identification of saints continued .

The Gospel for All Saints is the Matthew list of the Beatitudes. And not accidentally. The Sermon on the Mount, of which they are a part, has been called the summary of Jesus’ teaching and the Beatitudes the summary of the summary. They are not prescriptive, however. That is, they are not the new law which all must obey. They are descriptive. They represent the reality for those who live according to these precepts. Not that it would hurt us to consider them prescriptive! But we wouldn’t be any better at living them than in living the Golden Rule, so maybe it’s just as well we don’t set them out as the desired ideal.

One more thing. During the persecutions, very many more people caved in than stood firm. One of the first controversies of the Imperial Church was how to treat the lapsed—and this was not the first time the issue had arisen. The context this time was “if a clergyman lapsed and then returned to the faith, were the sacramental acts, such as baptism, that he had performed or would perform, valid?” The bottom line, which by no means pleased everybody was, “yes.” The grace resides in God not the “actor.” Damn good thing don’t you think.

Peace

Jerry+