When the Saints go Marching in...

Today is All Saints day, so its a public holiday here in Lisbon. No great big celebrations. Not even a religious parade to explain what its all about. Just quieter streets. No traffic jam on the Segunda Circular. Families off to visit the parents in the Alentejo. Kids playing in the park. That sort of thing.

But tomorrow’s All Souls Day. So what is it all about. Well, according to Wikipedia, (not necessarily to be trusted every time) the “saints” in questions are those who have made it through to Heaven and are currently enjoying paradise, while the “souls” refers to those still making their way through Purgatory, hence the need to visit graves, say prayers for the dead and pay for masses for their dearly departed.

Sipping coffee in Cascais and watching waves break this Bank Holiday morning, I find myself with a lot of unanswered questions. For example, how long do you get to stay in Purgatory? Or, if no-one ends up praying for you when you’re dead and gone and paying or masses to be said (because your family were particularly mean, or, maybe they just forgot about you) do you stay there forever? Or, where exactly in the Bible does it tell us about this intermediate state of grace, where you’re not exactly saved and you’re not exactly lost either? Or maybe I’m just missing the point.

I think I’d rather stick with what Paul says about “saints” in Philippians, greeting ordinary regular believers in Jesus in the town of Philippi as “saints” and sending greetings from ordinary regular believers in Jesus in Rome, whom he likewise calls “saints” (phil 4:21,22). Knowing that Jesus has already paid all the price necessary for me throughout eternity, in order for me to be totally forgiven of all my sins, to be considered holy, a saint, and accepted by God - that is enough for me, and it’s what the Bible tells me. Or is the church so badly off, that it needs to meet its bills through the payments of gullible relatives, plagued by guilt about the eternal destiny of their dearly departed?

Let the saints go marching in, I say, and let me be in that number!