The Fellowship of All Souls.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume XV, Issue 5, 1 November 1924, Page 460

The Fellowship of All Souls.

(A. %%rmop peached by. $te Bey, 13. ■ Mitom^^fii W-&-> FeUoi? and f : :,:Jtea# ,of JCiggk , c ,#?£s C4m--::;dn£dse). . : '/- V /',■' "I m the Communion of ' 'Saints' '<->■( Apostles £!reed):. T:he;re ?ings the jChristjan challenge to tbtfse who wonder What happens after death ; and to those too careless to think about it. It is strange tiiat the people of our land know so little ahout^so lovely a thing. Tiey understand why, as yesterday, w,e celebrate those iChristian heroes to whom we give the title of honor "saint.''; they do not understand our remembrance to-day of the whole fellowship of sinful men redeemed by Jesus. Still less, ihat it is more than remembrance; a gathering of the great fellowship by sacrament and prayer at the feet of our Redeemer. Here indeed is one of the deepest, happiest, tenderest contributions which we can make to the life of the Church and the Nation. All honor to the Guild which has seen this, and labored so long and so hard for that end. Yet we must own that our voice has scarcely been heard, our Creed little grasped, even by the mass of our fellow-Churchmen. A living belief m the Communion of Saints; the restoration ; of the union between the Church of Paradise and Earth, has made little way. It is not natural, normal, yet, for the Englishman to let either his reason or his love appropriate the large and beautiful doctrine of the Communion of Saints, and rest m it. Yet the message of his Creed is so inspiring, so comforting, so pure and grand. May I to-day call you to this mission: and to that end use these few minutes m an attempt to relight the lamp of our own belief m the Communion of Saints, so that we share again its glow\and beauty ? The Communion of Saints. Let us try and get a picture of it m our minds. $£ost ,of you, I dare say, were at the recent Congress and felt its thrill. It was ,a :thrili not merely of the emotions, but of an experience. Such an experience comes rarely. Our eyes looked about^ and met those of 14,Q,0,0 Oither people.. They were strangers, and ye,t we kn^w them. We had ney-er ;bef ore spoken, and yet they Were friends. Their eyes held the $»me glow; their jhearts the s^me love. For hours together we companied m an utterly new happiness. I)6ubts rolled away, 'fears fleet, confidence rose, inspiration caught hold. The flowers of penitence and new' resolve, of faith and hope and charity blossomed of themselves. Jesus Christ,

a^^Vr^4^^^^^^^l?^ fellowhplfr as J ftr ojfte vast cbminuriipn ot mpij • : s*s.l&' s cbjanged pvir outlook, ex!aj[tjed oijr Twr]&6le "tnorale. 'T-her.e, th^n, Js an experience that w.e clan understand, because we 'lived it^ jan^. now simply multiply it, -its nuipibers, and its spirit, and its b^jiity, ien.' thousand tiites ten 'thousand ; and m the midst see, -not the carven emblem of our Lord's death, but our dear kord Himself, radiant and shining, stretching out His wounded hands, casting 5^ glowing love over ,the multi,tud,e that no m|aiji can itnjmber ; ; #ofc |or & i,ew hours, but eternally. Some tfeere.are, nearest, to Him aiid His .Mother, all spliejidid with that reflected light; some there are, kfneerling far ,off m 4ark corners, whom yet the light does not miss— it strikes their tears ; and they glisten like pearls. Watch the Ipye and prayers ; : and tears and joy of that multitude, rushing out not only to .their lms, but because of Hj[m and His desires., to us battlers and pjlgrinis of earth. Then rentiember .that this .multitude does n °t consist ,only of tihe departed.; ihut -that we, sinners, yet inheritors of the Kingdom, have already our place m it. You are there. I a-m there. Ijts power ' .of numbers, its burning love, its fierce and certain faith., its penitential tears, its sjeepless watch, its cloud of prayers— all are our present possession. So says the Creeds so say you , as you repeat, t( % b,elieve m the Communion of Saints." ' , .other creed gives us visipn and inspir.ation like this-r-.cer,tainly not our .departed to us now., and gives spiritualism •■] N.o> QtJher faith us to our departed, making both one, o?xe m a new and undreamed-of devotion: One m all we seek or shun One because our Lord is one, One m home and one m love, We below and they above. Nor is it a new faith, a new vision. Think of the pictures painted by the Apocalypses it has been a part of Christianity from the first, an^ should be the lively and essential possession of every Christian. and the clejparted, one fellowship, one Holy Church. A fellowship not only of liying souls, but also of that unique ihspiration and joy which a vast multitude of a common faith always creates and contains, ©lit iri order that these flowers of charity, hope, and f aifch may blossom natui*aliy, as they blossoriied there, we must, I am sure, : take pains over our part iii the Communion of Saints. We must believe m it, and work at it, just as we do not expect the full, lovely fruits of our prayers and sacraments "unless' we work at them. 1. First, by learning and by read-

ing; ,>Wfij.:^u«tr<g|9<;[atQ,ifefl!^:, »9>iß^r ; tMng fltot jCMirvja^^ espj&ially; the* best a»d- most glorious, ones, tlie greater saints. Has it pc-. cflrredv seriously sjto aliUqf «s $feat -wjefneecT not confine mr friendship to %$ so^calletl - living? Arid, w ; hen j saijt friendship, I meaiS it/. Mp wa!tt(erhow much above us m hojliness slv4 strength #heyiai;e^w.e can; be, MejicUj with #;. Beter^:St; £ohn.j £airi, St/ Mary Magdalene, ;£>Jt. Augustine, Stfc. Bernard, iand St. j£ Jesiis Himsdf icall.6 us f wepds, if pis blessed Mother loyes <m isp dearly, it would lbe' strange if we could ; claim friendship sdth His o.thejjr friends.. Bu* w,e niwst wx>r& for ; )iL Take their writings or the stpi^r jo£ : their lives and .discover of w&a£#orj; and character are ihps.e gre&fc liburn■ing !&o .deep. Learn their m- ; most natur.e. Their ; temp]ta;tions and how they conquered. r Thek |a|th, aoad ■ >how they loved. 3to the presence of ; . Jesns| r their Master,, . cosamjend: 013.tr:-----self to their prayers ftnicl lov;e. Ghoose a saint whoni you get to; know specially meJA, &ixd. iiot pne ,only r biit a whole !band> of ajil ages and. races. jMd, .besides the : histor.i,c: saints, make friends .of some .of those who hawe lived saintly liy.es m our own (Church and ar,e of pjir own time. Thank God, the Church ', of this land has-been rich m them during the last sixty years. "Read their books and read their Iwras. remembering this is your brother, your sister ; your possession and friend m ihe fellowship of Jesus. 2. By praying. In the same way, continue to keep company with those ' dear ones, whom m an «ibuse of language we say we have lost. Really we have not lost them at all. The bitterness of parting is over when we realise how little we are parted. One who remembers his departed regularly and frequently m his prayei's, will bear me out when I say, how soon any feeling that they are dead vanishes, and how the knowledge and experience of living fellowship and love returns and grows, and abides. A parent or brother, it may even be, who left us when we were young, too for us to know them well m the flesh; yet they heed never be absent from our lives. As we pray for them and ask Christ for their pray-ei-s, ovir mutual love and knowledge and help grow. We no Jonger want to ;ask questions—^Shall we recognise our dear ones again? What will they be like?—^eeause, possessing them still •^by prayer, they are still, actually, vividly, part of our lives. They are oiir parents andi brothers and sisters, ario^ lovers iiqw, always, m the Conimuhion of all redeemed souls. 3. 'Further^ not only do we possess them tod; they us, by mutual prayer^ but we consprt . yfith them, one and all, m -the Blessed Sacrament. . .We

c^fts^t.:wit^ tUew.:ifl,P?^ e >;ftt our '.':' Kicp^iit9, w;e, ingrfVtfn tfee- kanjb; ' an 4 prying "WitH ;oije ;V.Plce, Holy, ■■|k&*,S°& He con- . goirt Ty,M "tb,eDj'.'ito"'.'^eni't;enc^,.- each Elea|ilg^i'tk"'!ih^ t .^tber- tjie lore pj ;]^e^ruci^ed, for each -other's lorgiyene^^Mipipity; '•';." . ' • "IjCpw, : fs£§f,e.d, JKappy- and powerful, tiio^is^jHis : ip of all Souls, if /^ ; c grip it, arid seek to use it m practice. How it helps! ;. , First it is a fellowship of humble penitence.. We shall nqt r . cease to say Kyrie Eleison beyond the veil. We shall say it with 'bitterer anpl truer tears as we realise Jesus' love, and our littleness, as they are. Pray today, for = those who are now suffering the agonies of this 'knowledge. " Say Kyrie Eleison for them and with them m: " true fellowship, How they m turn must be praying for souls on earth, ■ that they repent while still . it' is\day. . Let the desjre to be true members of our fellowship move us and help us to repent. For the communion of the redeemed begins by being one of broken and contrite hearts. But besides, it is a fellowship of joy— for it possesses the Incarnate Son of God and all His beauty arid love; and centres upon- Him and rests m Him. ''••■" And too, a fellowship of love. For besides being ringed rojind- by the love of Jesus, this- fellowship preserves and hallows and increases all our earthly loves. In the Communion of Saints we lose no loved ones, we gain k thousands. ' And too, a fellowship of strength. In the one Communion, we strengthen each other. We are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, who, just because you ■ and I are so weak, are the more eager upon their service ' of watch .and prayer. _So again, it is a fellowship of service; service to God and to one another, shirking no labor. And so again, it is a -fellowship of the ; pross, se.ekiiig mqre. ; and more; to wijpt' the spirit of its JBtead, and to spend .^nd be , spent, for x>thers, : utterly,'; pyen io .the death. ; ■■:.■ : Jn^il lastly-, w<e find it and know it to be ; indeed a jfeUo-wship^of life, the .Qne ; a and only ..true::. fellowship -of life; ifo^, m; the* .communion of Jesus, npvpjt^.;djes; aideal^is but. the -little golden gate |b^pugh:^hich we pass -to J^u^ a^d :His-f rjiends. " . In ; this iwondeiif ul : - fellowship are yoiiiandi I; and m "it, you and I'— and aUloui 1 , loved /dnes^^arid all the loved ones of Christ of .all times, find,peni.feijce ;and^ joy 'anid'"'-^^^^^^''.'.^^^^"^?!'-vicej ; ajid' a, t^foss, r ' Jtife. H^ye* we. not' a :ini^hty^in'splration tod ? -' : Then t let us ; lekria "it, prbelajm lt, and givelt io cmi;

and, to .all. -souls .that are' sad and d.piibting and' weak:. V , . ; . / '