Saints, but not Perfect

All Saints’ Sunday, November 3, 2024 for St. Martin’s Episcopal Church by Sr. Annette Fricke All Hallows Eve, All Saints’ Day, and All Souls’ Day have really come and gone, but the Church has chosen to celebrate All Saints on the nearest Sunday which is today. Originally, all three were recognized by the church in much the same way as Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Vigil. It is one feast rolled out as 3 parts spread over 3 days. An excerpt from a former bishop of the Spokane Diocese once wrote, “When we think about All Saints, it is tempting to assume that these were the people who got it right. The Saints of our faith are the heroic to be emulated. I do not believe they always got it right, nor do I believe any of us should expect to do so. The saints of our faith are, as one great hymn says, “just folks like me.” But in fact, they did make mistakes. They stumbled on their way forward in faith. But they did stay the course, and they kept trying, not claiming to be perfect, but offering what they had. And as best as I can tell, they were honest, admitting who they were and not hiding from their failures. +Jim Waggoner, 2012. A mother sits at the dining room table looking to pay the bills with her checkbook and suddenly notices that she’s being charged for 4 pints of blood for her heart operation. She finds out that the doctor nicked her aorta. She was never told about it, only just discovered it in an itemized bill. It was a mistake. Depending on the mistake, secrecy may be involved. She didn’t comment on it. Deep inside, probably realizing that she’s lucky to be alive. In a news story in 2015, a Maryland diocesan bishop was texting on her phone while drunk. Sentenced to 7 years in prison. She hid her addiction from the church committee when she was called to become bishop of the diocese. Yet despite a former charge in 2010, she also managed to grow the church so well, that new facilities had to be built to accommodate the parishioner increase. Both are true stories. Lives were hurt. The doctor could have killed a patient and the second killed a person in the community. The priest is no longer a priest. The woman died in 2000 due to natural causes. It may be tempting to compare our lives to theirs, but we shouldn’t because we all have our own setbacks, our own struggles. Remember this: We are here because of the grace of God, and we will someday leave in the same way. In God’s grace.