Thinking toward All Saints Day

Two saints have special meaning for me. As that thought meandered through my mind I began to ponder, off to the side: When exactly did saints begin to be important to me? I didn't grow up in a faith tradition that venerated saints. Occasionally a preacher might refer to a verse of scripture that called the Christians 'saints' and would then go on to say that word meant regular, ordinary Christians. And I think I still believe that today, people who have dedicated themselves to Christ and by his strength lead godly lives. But, besides that, there are two saints who have special meaning for me... and here I mean the ones that are recognized in the Catholic and Orthodox churches with special days dedicated to them.

St. Jude, patron saint of desperate cases and lost causes! When I saw this card in the bookstore at St. Joseph's Hospital I knew this was a saint for me! The year was 1997. Thomas and I were preparing to go to Ecuador for 3 months to teach in a seminary in Cuenca at the invitation of our friend and seminary director, Jorge Mogrovejo. I was finishing my responsibilities as weekend chaplain at the hospital in Lexington, KY and Thomas was tying up loose ends as adjunct instructor at Midway College. Our life seemed to be on hold since our graduations from seminary a couple of years earlier. Each of us had picked up part-time work, hoping full time ministry would open soon. That day in the bookstore I felt like our situation certainly fell somewhere between 'desperate cases and lost causes' and so at St. Jude became a part of my life fitting nicely into the card holder in my wallet.

Both the Catholic and Orthodox churches have an emphasis of worship that few Protestant churches acknowledge--and we are poorer for it; that emphasis being, the communion of the saints. Through some of my experiences as a hospice chaplain the year before my visit to the bookstore I had begun to understand and appreciate the communion of the saints, that great cloud of witnesses, the church victorious.

Hospice chaplaincy is somewhat different from the responsibilities of a hospital chaplain. At the hospital chaplains were called to be with the family in the waiting room when there was a Code Blue or after death had been pronounced. With hospice I was sometimes invited to share that sacred time with a family at the bedside when their loved one slips from this life into the next.

Relationships of trust had developed during the months of hospice visitation. More often than not the hospice client and I shared a bond of prayer, praying for one another. And now that this dear one stands in the presence of the Lord will she stop praying for me? Now that my departed friend joins that great crowd of witnesses will her prayers be less faithful,less effective? With these experiences I came to appreciate the communion of the saints. So on that day in the hospital bookstore inviting St. Jude to join my friends from hospice seemed appropriate.

But, I said there were two significant saints, and the second would be St. Barbara, the patron saint of those who work with explosives and artillery and for those who work in the mines. One of my German friends always greeted me with a hardy handshake, calling me "Heilige Barbara..." Saint Barbara! That made me curious to know her better and upon inquiry I discovered that St. Barbara's day is December 4, the birthday of our first born!

A complete understanding of life after death continues to evade us. We see as through a glass dimly. Even with scripture there is a whisper of truth here and a suggestion of certainty there so we build our faith in the power of the resurrection, certain that what is seen is temporary and what is unseen is eternal.