From the third-floor choir room, I have an unhindered view of the new columbarium being constructed as part of our latest building project. The center wall of the columbarium was recently installed, and it features a familiar scripture etched in stone: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses… let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us.” This sacred space will hold the remains of beloved saints who have finished the race, saints who in some mystery of the faith surround us to cheer us on.
In the early church, it became customary to remember the martyrs of the church on Sundays throughout the year. But when the list of martyrs became too long for each to have a separate day, one special day was set aside to remember all those who had died in the faith. November 1 came to be known as All Saints’ Day. In our contemporary understanding, this special day commemorates not just martyrs, but all Christians of every time and place who have faithfully completed the race. This Sunday, we will pause to remember those saints who have passed from our Beloved Community and now surround us to cheer us on as we run the race set before us. Let us give thanks for their lives well lived and celebrate with them the promise of eternal peace and rest.
Pastor David
