All Saints celebrates the baptized people of God, living and dead, who are the body of Christ. All Saints’ Sunday and the appointed readings are pregnant with themes of stark contrast. As baptized children of God, the very nature of our lives is of stark contrast. By virtue of our baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus, we are made saints while we are still sinners. We are holy saints and wholly saints. As November heralds the dying of the landscape in many northern regions, the readings and liturgy call us to remember all who have died in Christ and whose baptismal promise is complete. At the Lord’s table we gather with the saints of every time and place as if at a great cosmic feast. As we light a candle in memory of our loved ones, we give thanks for the saints who have gone before us, for the saints still among us, and for the saints of God still yet to come.
image: The Forerunners of Christ with Saints & Martyrs By Fra Angelico – In the Public Domain. https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3000363