Dear Friends,
Happy Halloween and tomorrow is All Saints’ Day, which we will transfer to this upcoming Sunday. All Saints’ Day is one of the oldest feast days in the Christian year. The roots of this feast day go back to the Diocletian persecution of the church in the fourth-century. So many Christians were being martyred for the faith in certain parts of the Roman Empire that it seemed right and good to combine everyone together. It became official across Western Christendom in the seventh century when the Roman Parthenon was consecrated and dedicated to All the Saints in 609 AD.
It is an important feast day because it reminds us that, for Christians, death does not have the final say and that we (the church militant) join our voices with the church triumphant and all the company of heaven in our unending hymn praising God and his salvific work on our behalf.
James Tissot (French, 1836-1902). Saint Thaddeus or Saint Jude (Saint Thadée ou Saint Jude), 1886-1894. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
One interesting saint who was commemorated on Monday is the apostle St. Jude. He is an interesting saint because Jude is short for Judas. It must be tough sharing a name with one of the most vilified men in history; the man who betrayed our Lord. Nobody lights a candle for Judas Iscariot and no church has a feast dedicated to him. It was for this reason that many believe St. Jude—the good Judas—became the patron saint of lost causes. St. Jude was petitioned when the rest of the company of heaven seemed to be silent.
Now, today is also Reformation Day, and as a Protestant the idea of petitioning saints sort of weirds me out. However, the point of a saint day is to read the Gospel and learn about Jesus through the lens of the life of that particular saint. St. Jude reminds us that it is only through the Gospel that lost causes are transformed into divine causes, that lost causes in Christ are always given hope.
Whatever your lost cause maybe, take heart: Christ knows and in him you are always found. For Jesus is working out all things for your good and his glory.
This Sunday, we will celebrate All the Saints, including you and those saints yet to come. We will also wrap up the formal aspect of our stewardship campaign. I want to thank everyone who has turned in their pledge. For those who have not gotten their pledge in, I ask that you would do it by Sunday.
This helps us shape our budget so we can get the Gospel out and through preaching and teaching, love and care, letting New York City know that by virtue of the cross of Christ, no one is a lost cause.
In an age where it seems like there are a lot of lost causes, Calvary-St. George’s and her mission is tremendously important to help fund.
We will see you Sunday,
The Reverend Jacob Smith
