All Saints (Sermon)

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Dear brothers and sisters:

All the Saints Who Shone Forth in the Russian Land. Icons. Holy Dormition Pochayiv Lavra

On this Sunday I congratulate you with the Feast of the remembrance of ‘All Saints’. It is not by chance that this feast is celebrated after the Pentecost. The Holy Spirit has descended upon the earth and gives each christian the possibility and strength to become a saint.

Usually, when we speak of saints, we imagine astonishing servants of God, whom have received spiritual gifts from the Lord: miracle workers, healers. Under the banner of holiness we understand particular miracles and signs; but, if we open the New Testament, we see that every christian is a saint. All christians must be holy. Apostle Paul addresses all christians as saints. All of christianity is set up so that each one of us becomes a holy person. When a priest serves a Holy Liturgy to God in the Altar, before Communion he intones «Holy things are for the Holy». Holy means the Blood and Body of our Lord. To be given ‘only’ to the Holy, all of us.

Usually people who do not live a christian life, say: but, we are not holy, we cannot perform miracles. For sure, a holy person is not the one who can perform miracles. Often, people confuse particular gifts from God, which He Himself bestows upon a person when He so desires, and the Holiness which is in the Gospel, which is our lifes purpose. We must constantly strive towards christian holiness and work for it. The symptoms of this holiness are the following: «love, joy, peace, patience, grace, charity, faith, gentleness, and abstinence» (Gal. 5, 22-23).

What must we do in order to become saintly? Pray daily, often go to Confession and Communion, read and study Holy Scriptures, especially the New Testament. Most importantly try to live by the commandments of the Holy Gospel. All this is not achieved right away. The daily reading of and re-flexion upon the Holy Gospel, comparing the Holy text to the conditions of our daily lives, «are needed not only to become wiser, but to become holy». Only within the Church can a christian grow in holiness. Moreover, the growth must be constant. Living by the Gospel must impel us to improve daily and to get closer to Christ then previously.

Each christian must be like a sportsman in an arena, running to get a prize. If he falls, he again rises and runs. Let us remember that we are all children of the Pentecost, and the we are all called to touch God’s Fire the Holy Spirit, in order to bless and revive our soul.

Today’s feast tells each one of us, thе ‘All Saints’ day is not only the day of great miracle workers, which are written in the church calender. All Saints day is our feast, the feast of every christian, the feast of our heart, able to contain the Holy Spirit. I wish for all of you to become saints, real christians living as Saint Justin The Philosopher wrote «in likeness of God, His Truth, in chastity, and love for mankind». Amen.

2017