A Vision for Tomorrow - All Saints finds Remembrance

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, Our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.


This past Monday was All Saints Day. This coming Thursday is Remembrance Day. The way our church calendar works, both of these days are shifted to today. So today we celebrate both feasts.

What do All Saints Day and Remembrance Day have in common?

Well, there is the obvious. Today we remember those who fought and died for our freedom and on behalf of us for the freedom of others. I strongly believe that they are counted among the Saints, both those who have died and those who remain with us still.

Remembrance is not just about those who fought long ago. It is about the past, the present and the future.

We remember those who fought in the wars of the past who made it possible for us to live in a free world; those who defended the rights of religious and ethnic minorities throughout the world; those who risked and gave up their lives, their families, and their sanity for what they believed in.

We also remember those who fight today for the same rights; who fight for the rights of women and children; who fight so that others can do something as basic as to go to school.

We remember that we are a broken people. We pray for the coming of the Kingdom of God, for the day when war becomes unnecessary. We pray for the day when there is no longer a need for soldiers.

It is the same for the Saints. Last Tuesday we remembered our own loved ones who have entered into God’s Kingdom ahead of us. We count them among the Saints. We remember them and all who loved God in life today.

We also celebrate all who fear God today. This does not mean all those who are afraid of God. It means all those who believe that God has power to affect creation, that God has the ability to guide us towards a better life, that God loves us and walks with us on our lifelong journey.

Finally, we pray for the future of the Saints. We pray that there will continue to be people working towards the Kingdom of God after we are gone, that the people of God will know God’s presence in their lives.


But what does this all mean to us here?

Today we remember the richness of our tradition. We remember those saints who came before us: those saints who built this church, who formed this parish. We remember those who helped to establish the Anglican Church north of Smokey. We remember Simon Gibbons, who came here as a missionary and all those who struggled to build a life and a church here in those hard times.

We remember that we have a rich history of working with other denominations, from the very first days of our church here to the present. We remember that our ancestors, who all moved here from far and wide, worked together to make life here possible.

We remember the service that this church has given to the community. We have served as a meeting place. We have served as a place of worship. We have served as a centre for community outreach. We have even served as a base for mounting search and rescue parties.

We have served this community as it formed and grew into what it is today.


Today we still serve in many of the same ways. We still serve as a place for the community to gather, both here at church and in our halls. We still work with our brothers and sisters of other denominations. We still reach out with pastoral support for those in need within our community, at Highland Manor, at Buchanan Memorial Hospital, on their boats at sea, wherever we see the need.


We pray that we will continue to be of service.

That is where our work lies today.

This Advent we will be working on a mission statement for our parish. We will be seeking a vision of our place in this community, of our purpose here. As a parish, we will be looking for God’s call to us.

As members of the Body of Christ, we each do God’s work every day. We each have a vision of what our individual mission is in this world.

As a parish within the Anglican Church of Canada working with a unified vision, with a defined mission, we can make the world a better place. We can make the Kingdom of God just a little bit more present in our community today.

Thanks be to God!