All Souls in a Covid World

Today we gather with Christians all around the world who will light candles and remember loved ones who have died over the last year. We do this because November 1st has for at least 12 centuries been All Saints Day. This is the day Christians have remembered all those who firstly died as martyrs, and then all those great people of faith (saints) who the rest of us look up to and are inspired by. From the twelfth or thirteenth centuries All Souls Day was held on November 2 to remember ALL people of faith, especially those we grieve. Today we remember all those who have gone before us, who have paved the way for us, and especially those we have loved and who loved us, and those who inspire us. As we honour their memory and give thanks for the ways they have blessed us over our lifetimes, we take another step in letting them go, trusting that they now rest in God, as they have always.

This year All Souls is particularly poignant. For many 2020 has been a hard year. Life as we knew it has changed. Some for the better. Some for the worse. While there is much to feel relief at when we look overseas, there is still a lot to grieve. This is true for those who have had friends or loved ones die, and is especially true for those unable to attend the funerals.

With Covid’s impact on the world this year, our usual ways of working through a bereavement have been upended. We are offered this opportunity to pause and take time to remember those who have died, and to acknowledge what their lives have meant to us and the impact of their loss on those who remain.

We do this reflecting on the gospel reading for today; Matthews’s version of the Beatitudes. We have referred to this a lot this year. In these and the whole sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches us that these people are the most honoured; they are the ones we look up to and aspire to be like.

Today we are invited to recall those we might call saints and how they inspire us in our lives today. We honour their lives and give thanks for all they meant to us.