Bulletin Shorts for the Solemnity of All Saints

All Saints, Solemnity – Sunday, 01 November 2020  

Revelation 7:2-4, 9-14.  Psalm 24:1bc-2, 3-4ab, 5-6.  1 John 3:1-3.  Matthew 5:1-12a.

Saints Next Door.  It can be easy to view the beatitudes as impossible goals for Kingdom of Heaven living.  But they are not just dreams and hopes; they are norms, achievable standards of right behaviors for baptized disciples.  The second reading helps us grasp this.  We are children of God not by blood or birth or desire.  We are God’s children by baptismal rebirth, by God’s good choice.  We constantly look, at Pope Francis’ urging, for the saint next door.  We constantly try to be one, too.

• I will reread 1 John 3:1-3 each day this week to cherish how I am a child of God.
• Let me name the “saintly” behavior of neighbors, co-workers, family.
• What will I do each day this week to be a saint next door?

This post was first published on the worship pages of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois website.
Sunday Prayer Shaping Life and Belief
Written by Eliot Kapitan.

Permission is given to use, reprint, and distribute these bulletin shorts in any way you find helpful for your community.

Image credit: Photo by Noah Silliman on Unsplash.