“He looked down his nose and said, ‘Well, they’re no saint!’” I wonder whether you can identify with that. It maybe you’ve said it. It maybe you’ve heard someone say it about you. The speaker may be 100% correct, or they may be completely wrong. It depends on what we mean when we talk about saints. This weekend, churches are celebrating All Saints Festival, so we need to think about what we do mean when we talk about saints.

Sometimes we use the term carelessly, as if a saint were someone who never did anything wrong. In that case, the speaker is 100% correct. No matter who you are, you’re no saint.  That is true of everyone. Every one of us carries around pain and regret, insecurities and vulnerabilities. None of us can presume to stand before God, to open up his Word to us and gather round his table to break bread together in our own strength (or in our own righteousness, as the prayer puts it.) 

However, the writer of the letter to the Ephesians, which we’ll be reading at the Cathedral on Sunday, talks about saints in a much more inclusive way. They use the term ‘saint’ to describe all Christians – all who trust on God’s mercy to presume to gather around his table. What we are celebrating at All Saints is that we are all called to share the title ‘saint.’ We are all called to receive God’s blessing.

And just look at the list of people St Luke’s Gospel tells us are blessed by God. We’ll be proclaiming it at the Cathedral on Sunday. It includes the poor, the hungry, people who weep, people who are hated and excluded and people who have their reputation trashed because of their faith. So, whether people look down their noses or not, we are all called to be saints.

Canon Matthew