As we kick off our Stewardship season, what better way to do so that to celebrate the Saints. The Saints are our models of how to be Christian, and certainly they are so in terms of how we give our time, talent, and treasure to God for His glory and the up-building of the Church of Jesus Christ. The word “saint” in English simply means “holy” and originally the word for Saint was in Greek holy: agios. Our Patron, Saint Paul, is simply Holy Paul. As we say the Holy Church, or Holy Scripture, or Holy Communion, when we address Paul or Peter, or Blessed Mary, and call them “Saint,” we are simply saying Holy Paul, Holy Peter, Holy Mary. To call them holy, or any other Saint, is to recognize God’s extraordinary activity in them and His election of them to be stars in the firmament of the Church. In fact, we see that in the Church Fathers, the Saints of the Church are associated with the stars installed in the firmament as described in Genesis chapter 1.

In professional sports there are all-star games. In baseball, basketball, hockey, and football (although football calls theirs the “pro-bowl” and basically no one pays any attention to it). To arrive at the group of players in these sports that participate in the all-star game involves balloting, they are elected: by the fans and by players. What are these all-star teams but those players who have been given gifts by God up and above their colleagues, and who have cooperated with those God-given gifts, in a way notable and singular, so as to become players recognized as extraordinary? This same sort of thing is seen as well in the halls of fame in professional sports (and college sports, I might add). Those elected to the hall of fame play the same sport as young children do in their pick-up games, or their little league games. The game is basically the same no matter if you are playing in your backyard or the local park or arena, or if you are playing at the highest professional level. There is a spectrum of skill, and certain players are given gifts up and above the rest; those players are admired and imitated.

It is the same with the Saints of holy Church: the holy ones of holy Church. Whereas in sport the discipline is centered on developing skills, in Christianity the discipline is centered on discipleship. Every baptized Christian is a disciple, but like sport we see in the Church a spectrum of discipleship. On one end are the Christians baptized yesterday – no matter the age, because every baptized person starts at square 1 in terms of relationship with God, Who (in the teaching of both S. Peter and S. Paul) shows no partiality, emphasized by the famous teaching of S. Paul to the Galatians: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” And on the other end are the canonical Saints of the Church, “canonical” meaning on the Kalendar with the title “Saint” before their name; “canonical” also because God chose them to be the pattern for all, the rule by which Christian life is measured. Saints are those holy men and women who have been given certain gifts by God of prayer and service, and who in recognizing the gifts given them by God have cooperated with this grace so as to give all of their time, talent, and treasure to the glory of God and the upbuilding of His Church.

Thus we see how, on the Feast of All Saints, the Saints are examples to us of genuine stewardship. We can speak of the Saints as gardeners, in that they are dedicated to helping growth happen. Likewise the Saints certainly show humility before Almighty God, Who alone gives the increase. Saints are filled with the awe and fear of God, of the fact that all creative power comes from God, Who is the maker of all things, and through Whom all things are made. And the Saints know that in Christ’s garden, which is the Church, the Holy Spirit dwells, the Holy Spirit acts, the Holy Spirit leads us to Christ. The Saints themselves do not imitate the Pharisee, who does works to be rewarded by God, but rather they imitate the Tax Collector, the Publican, who is pure humility falls to his knees before God and asks simply for His mercy.

In the Apostles’ Creed, which in Anglican liturgy is also called our Baptismal Creed, we say “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, and the Communion of Saints.” These all go together by the very nature of God’s economy and saving plan: the Holy Spirit establishes the Church, which is Christ’s Body, and He calls men and women as Holy Saints so that in being filled with the Holy Spirit and made completely and utterly holy, they lead the Church, both in their life and in their heavenly intercession and supplication. The Saints are full of the Holy Spirit. The Saints have been transformed by the Gospel. Thus the Saints are concrete proof that the promises of the Gospel are true. We are in communion with the Saints through Jesus Christ: they are our friends, they are our colleagues, they are our teachers in how to follow Christ, they are our contemporaries.

I said before that the all-star professional players are admired and imitated. Again, this is the same as with the Saints. Everything about them we should admire – and there is so much to admire in the lives of the Saints, for the diversity of the Saints baffles simple analysis. And what we can imitate of the Saints, we should be ever trying to do. To imitate the Saints is to imitate how much they embraced and accepted the commandment of Jesus: to love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind: and to love our neighbor as ourself. In loving God and our neighbor, the Saints demonstrate what Christian love is, and teach us what Christ’s love, which is what we are to imitate, involves. Listen, for example, to how Saint Paul describes love: love is patient, love is kind, love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. And without this love, says Saint Paul, no matter what we do, we are a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal; indeed without love, we are nothing.

What Saint do you seek to not only admire but imitate? If you do not have one, it is time to get one. Who is your favorite Saint? If you do not have a favorite Saint, read Scripture to learn about the biblical Saints: Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Job, Solomon, David, and more; of course we have the New Testament Saints: Blessed Virgin Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, Zechariah, Simeon, Peter, Paul, Mary Magdalene, Martha, the Evangelists, the Apostles, and many more. A great way to learn about the major Saints is to attend weekday liturgy where we keep the feast days of the Saints of the New Testament as well as certain other important Saints, like S. Francis of Assisi and several others. If we want the Holy Spirit to come, to inspire our souls, let us deepen our communion with the Saints, let us build our living relationship with the Saints, one Saint at a time. To celebrate and venerate Saints is to celebrate and worship Christ in them, because Christ is in the Saints, and the Saints in Him. The Saints show us how to grapple and live with the revelation of God in Christ; they show us how to love the Church, how to order our lives, how to pray, and what our priorities as Christians should be. In the simplest of terms, the Saints teach us how to be a better parish, better disciples, better pray-ers. Indeed the Saints teach us how to be an adoring and merciful congregation in a beautiful church with a strong desire to know God. All because the Saints are completely full of Christ, full of grace and heavenly benediction, completely filled by Him Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

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