Worship - 1 November 2026

Summary Of This Week's Theme (All Saints Sunday)

We Anglicans have a rather complicated relationship with saints. Some are comfortable with praying to them; others regard it as distinctly suspect. Although I suspect even the most Protestant among us might occasionally resort to: ‘Saint Anthony, Saint Anthony, please come around. Something is lost and can’t be found!’

But perhaps we should spend less time worrying about how other people relate to saints, and more time considering what sainthood actually means. The church has always remembered those whose lives have offered particular inspiration: people who, in different ways, have reflected the love and teaching of Jesus.

That is what we celebrate today. A rather varied collection of people, few of whom were perfect, but all of whom demonstrated something remarkable in their commitment to God and neighbour.

And the footsteps of those saints lead us straight to the Beatitudes. ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit; blessed are those who mourn; blessed are the meek.’ The Greek word makarios might equally be translated as ‘happy’. But what is happy about being poor, mourning or downtrodden?

The answer is that God's kingdom belongs to them. It is a kingdom in which those whom the world regards as losers are honoured by God. Our worth is not measured by worldly success, but by the love and grace of God. And the saints remind us that these are God's measures of success, not ours.

Of course, we don't always find that comfortable. It's much easier to turn our humour and ridicule on other human beings, particularly those worse off than ourselves, than to confront the darkness of the world. We forget that old phrase: ‘There but for fortune ...’

Yet God's love, when it flows through us, has a habit of shining through our imperfections. We don't have to be perfect to become saints. We simply have to be willing to let something of Christ's love take root in our lives.

The Talmud, drawing on the prophet Micah, puts it beautifully: ‘Do justly, now. Love mercy, now. Walk humbly, now. You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.’

Perhaps that is sainthood in a nutshell: ordinary people doing extraordinary things, giving us examples to follow and foundations on which to build.

I find myself returning to the image of anchor and lighthouse. Sometimes we need the anchor of faith to hold us steady; sometimes the lighthouse to guide us through darkness. Christ is the one true lighthouse, but the saints are countless reflections of that light, shining into the darker corners of human life.

And perhaps that is our calling too: not to be perfect, but to allow something of that light to shine through us. That is how we join the communion of saints. Bless them all!