All Saints: St. Alfred's, Nov. 5, 2023
Setting Who makes saints Someone asked me the other day who makes Saints? They had observed that some of the people in the church's calendar had "saint" in front of their name and some didn't. How do you get to be a saint? I'm a little surprised at myself that my first instinct was to describe the different ways the Catholic Church and the Episcopal church make a saint. I gave a bureaucratic answer to what I think was a personal question. Somehow All Saints Day is a very personal day. There was one thing (Bishop) Scharf said two weeks ago that -- in the language of my youth --"blew me away." He pointed to how the Pharisees were asking one question and Jesus answered a different question. It's so important to listen for the right questions, isn't it. It wasn't just that it was an insight in how to understand that particular exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees. It seemed to be a kind of commentary on the importance of really listening...