All Saints’ Day reminds us that saints are not spiritual superheroes or flawless people preserved in stained glass. They are ordinary, unfinished human beings through whom the extraordinary grace of God became visible. Today we remember the famous and forgotten alike — and discover that there is still room for us in the great company of saints.
Tag Archives: All Saints Day
When Saints Disturb the Furniture
The saints of the Reformation remind us that holiness does not mean perfection—it means belonging to God. As we enter All Saints and All Souls, perhaps the saints should be allowed to disturb the furniture a little, reminding us that the Church is always being reformed and God is still making saints from wonderfully unfinished people like us.
The Saints Were Never Meant to Be Statues
The saints were never meant to remain safely on pedestals. They were imperfect, complicated human beings through whom the grace of God became visible. As we enter a season filled with saints, reformers, martyrs and holy troublemakers, perhaps their stories are asking us one wonderfully uncomfortable question: what might God’s grace look like if it became visible through us?
The Ordinary Road That Leads to the Saints
As Ordinary Time gives way to our journey toward All Saints, perhaps we discover what these quiet weeks have been teaching us all along: saints are not made somewhere beyond ordinary life. Holiness begins here—in kitchens, conversations, interruptions, acts of mercy, and the next faithful thing God places before us.
God Is Not Waiting for You to Become More Impressive
We often imagine that God is waiting for us to become a more organized, prayerful, patient and generally improved version of ourselves. But Ordinary Time reminds us that God does not work with our improved selves—God works with the people we actually are. As All Saints approaches, perhaps holiness is less about self-improvement and more about surrender: discovering that grace begins not when we become impressive, but when we simply show up.
God Is Probably in the Laundry: The Holiness of Doing It Again
Much of life consists of doing things again: washing the dishes, making breakfast, saying our prayers, offering forgiveness, beginning again. Perhaps holiness is not found only in extraordinary moments, but in the faithful repetition of ordinary ones. As All Saints approaches, we remember that saints were formed through thousands of ordinary mornings offered to God.
The Holiness of Showing Up: Why God Keeps Meeting Us in the Same Old Places
Most of the Christian life happens not on mountaintops, but in kitchens, offices, parish halls, and ordinary days. Perhaps holiness is less about doing extraordinary things and more about returning faithfully—to prayer, to mercy, to one another, and to God—with love.
The Holy Art of Showing Up: When Faithfulness Looks Remarkably Ordinary
Holiness rarely arrives with trumpets. More often, it looks like showing up, saying our prayers, keeping promises, forgiving, serving, and beginning again. In the quiet days between Thanksgiving and All Saints, Ordinary Time reminds us that God does some of God’s finest work through small acts of faithfulness repeated day after day.
The Holy Art of Not Getting Much Done
We live in a world that measures the value of a day by how much we accomplish. But what if the ordinary days between Thanksgiving and All Saints are inviting us into a different kind of holiness? In this third reflection on the season, we explore the grace hidden in unremarkable days, the theology of the checklist, and the holy art of saying, “That was enough for today.”
The Holiness of Wednesday: Finding God When Nothing Much Is Happening
Tuesday seldom arrives with trumpets. Yet the ordinary days may be where most of our holiness is actually formed. Between Thanksgiving and All Saints, this reflection explores the quiet grace of everyday life—and why God may be doing considerably more with an ordinary Tuesday than we realize.