By Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy
v11The greatest one among you must be your servant. v12Whoever makes himself great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be made great. (Read: Matthew 23:1-12)
v27″But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, v28bless those who curse you, and pray for those who mistreat you. v29If anyone hits you on one cheek, let him hit the other one too; if someone takes your coat, let him have your shirt as well. v30Give to everyone who asks you for something, and when someone takes what is yours, do not ask for it back. v31Do for others just what you want them to do for you. (Read: Luke 6:20-36)
This Sunday is the Feast of All Saints. This is a festival celebrated both in the Roman Catholic and Anglican/Episcopal churches, and by the Orthodox churches on the first Sunday after Pentecost, in honor of God and His saints, known and unknown. Most Filipinos observe this day with a festive mood of lighting candles (or lighting up a fire to some), bringing flowers and picnics at the spruced tombs of their departed loved ones. But the present pandemic has changed all that. While Filipinos are known of their early observance of the Christmas season – it is only this time that the tradition of trooping to the cemeteries to honor the dead has been advanced from October 14-28. From thence until November 4 the cemeteries will be closed as mandated by the Inter Agency Task Force of COVID-19.
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Last Tuesday I was at the Saytan (La Union) public cemetery for the burial of an aunt. While it is only a day before cemetery lockdown ‘deadline’ I observed very few people tending to the graves of their departed. I also observed that there were freshly melted candles and fresh flowers atop some of the tombs which means many has already done their obligation. While to most the date is sentimentally important, I believe the essence of the observance of lighting candles and offering flowers at the graves of our departed is equally important. Such could be appreciated if we know the reason of the occasion. Let us recall the thoughts of an article I wrote in this paper seventeen years ago (10.31.2003 edition, Zigzag Weekly).
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November 1 was also called Allhallows or Hallowmas and now Halloween. It became established as a church festival early in the 7th century when the Pantheon in Rome was consecrated as the Church of the Blessed Virgin and All Martyrs. Pope Gregory IV gave the custom official authorization in 837 (Encyclopedia Britannica). November 1 may have been chosen because it was the day of one of the four festivals of the pagan nations of the north, and it was church policy to supplant with Christian observances. Background aside, the reason of this observance is the remembrance of all the saints of God, known and unknown. Who are these saints and what have they done to become one?
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“These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and them white in the blood of the lamb.” (Revelation 7.14) The seer is writing to seven congregations in Asia Minor somewhere near the end of the first century and the beginning of the second. In the 50 or 60 years since Jesus was crucified, the new movement of people who believed that he had been raised from death spread significantly over the whole Roman Empire as far west as Gaul, or what is now France and Spain. Christians made up a significant block of the population and were recognized as potentially a powerful force. This made Domitian, emperor of that era, a bit edgy, and to make sure he was able to hold the empire together, large and unwieldy as it was, he instituted a kind of pledge of allegiance with serious repercussion to those who refused. But the early believers of Christus – the early Christians were so devoted in their worship of their God. When they were threatened with exile or even death for refusing to take the oath of loyalty, they preferred death. They didn’t revolt or use their numbers to create political instability by preaching insurrection. Instead, they willingly walked to the stakes to be burned, or into the arenas where the lions waited singing praises to their God and speaking of forgiveness to their persecutors. They became martyrs.
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The word “martyr” literally means witness. Their witness to their faith in Christ was so strong, so patient, that they willingly went to their deaths, rather than compromise with a state, which they believed was making illegitimate demands upon them. And so, these Christians who were living through a time of great ordeal, John, one of the pastors who had been exiled to a penal colony in the Aegean Sea, wrote this visionary letter to them. He calls to their remembrance the example of faithful people who have witnessed to their faith in God without flinching. He turns their eyes toward the future when they will be part of that great innumerable throng from every nation, tribe and language. They shall stand around the throne of God singing, “Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever!” The memory of past faithful ones will inspire them to faithfulness in their own time of ordeal and cement the bond which bind the whole people of God, past, present and future, into one vast and thrilling community of worship. And this remembrance will renew and strengthen them in hope. What might we profitably do this All Saints Day observance? Look backward, and consider those who went before us. The road ahead is inevitably dark, but to see where we have been may offer unexpected hints about who we are and where we should be heading. Triviality about the past leads certainly toward a trivial future.
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v11The greatest one among you must be your servant. v12Whoever makes himself great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be made great.” (Matthew 23:11-12) These two verses from our gospel lesson for this Sunday (Proper 26) somehow connect us to the spirit and virtues of the saints whose feast we celebrate this day. Humility and servanthood. I do believe that these characters make our love for God and others inseparable (our topic last week). For we cannot truly love God if we are not humble enough to ask His forgiveness and follow him as His servants. We, too, cannot claim to genuinely love our neighbors if we are not humble enough to forgive and be of service without conditions to those who are in need.
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Election 2022 is still quite far – yet we now witness the obvious political maneuverings of some groups and individuals to ensure their victory and thus perpetuate their hold on to power. The latest stunt over the national budget and congress leadership of the former Speaker of the House was obviously calculated for his highest ambition in his political career. Pronouncements from the government leaders contradicts the realities on the ground. The president recently accepted that corruption in the government is still prevalent in most agencies that are supposed to alleviate the welfare of the people. Priorities in the national budget are given in most departments susceptible to corruption. The congress, pressured by public outcry, endorsed a budget which somehow increased appropriation for health which should be in this time of pestilence. The problem here is hypocrisy and the solution is humility. Humility is a person who is not proud or arrogant and is truthful; low in rank, or importance, or position. The grandstanding that we witness among our leaders in every issues at hand are the symptoms of the problem.
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No greater example than what Jesus the Son of God, the Lord of the universe has done. On the night he took the bread and broke it, took a servant’s apron, tied it upon his waist, knelt before the disciples and washed their soiled feet. That was the incarnation of full humility. But let me caution you that humility does not ignore or negate critical thought or moral clarity. Christ called the actions of Judas that evening an act of betrayal. He did not allow treachery or deceit go unnoticed.
Another example of this saintly virtue is that of Albert Schweitzer. When he arrived in 1953 at the Chicago railroad station to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. He stepped off the train, a tall man with bushy hair and a big mustache. As the cameras flashed and city officials approached with hands outstretched to meet him, he thanked them politely. Then he asked to be excused for a minute. He walked through the crowd to the side of an elderly black woman struggling with two large suitcases. He picked them up, smiled, and escorted her to the bus, helped her get on, and wished her a safe journey. Then Albert Schweitzer turned to the crowd and apologized for keeping them waiting. It is reported that one member of the reception committee told a reporter, “That’s the first time I ever saw a sermon walking.”
We’ve been given a great task – to live in harmony, to weep with the mournful, to laugh with the joyful, to not be conceited. Especially, we are called to be righteous, but not self-righteous. We are to be humble. (RT Lloyd, Charades and Reality).
Let us pray.
Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. (ECP-BCP All Saints Day Collect)
Almighty and merciful God, it is only by your gift that your faithful people offer you true and laudable service: Grant that we may run without stumbling to obtain your heavenly promises; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (ECP-BCP Proper 26 Collect)**
