All Saints Day Reflection with Fr Robin Gibbons

I was very privileged to be at the farewell Eucharist of the Bishop of Oxford on the 30th October. A moving occasion with Christ Church filled to capacity, there were many significant moments to show how much the Anglican and wider Christian Church has benefited by, and appreciated, Bishop John’s careful shepherding. In his sermon he made a number of points but one struck me as particularly apt, that as Christians we belong to a family which tries to make a difference, the expression of it found in communities throughout the world, or as I sensed in that liturgy, in coming together to pray and worship, a time where heaven and earth commune.

In an age where vindictive terror is causing so much distress across our world, where we see the results of selfishness and sin in wanton destruction of planet and life, Christ calls us to be witnesses of the Good News, to be a force for good in a world of problem and pain. And where do we find the presence of Jesus? It is in our community of faithful people that we shall find Him. His teaching in the Beatitudes express ways in which we can become true disciples, through the transforming gift of holiness which brings us into relationship with the living God.

For me All Saints and All Souls are really two aspects of our family, one of final joy in the Kingdom, the other of hope through life and death to resurrection. Both feasts stress our greater community beyond space and time, those who have gone before us, the holy ones, part of that huge number, impossible to count, of every nation and people who are the communion of saints. On All Souls we recognize the love of God for all and commend our departed ones, those whose lives are often so unfinished in our terms, to the arms of the merciful shepherd who will welcome them home, in prayer we accompany them on their journey.

As I grow older I trust more in the words and wisdom of Jesus, knowing he has called us to be his disciples in the circumstances of our daily life. I also trust his promise to be with us always till the end of time especially whenever we gather in His name, I sensed that in Bishop John’s farewell liturgy, a little sign on earth of the living communion of saints in the making!

Fr Robin Gibbons is an Eastern Rite Chaplain for the Melkite Greek Catholics in Britain.