Let's honor the saintly people we have known

Monday, 10/31/16

Tomorrow is the Feast of All Saints, so today is the vigil of All Saints. Saints were once known as “hollows,” and the vigil of All Hollows was called Holloween. People used to imagen the spirits of the saints visiting us this day, and that thought gave rise to people visiting us disguised as saints.

We could give our thoughts to our favorite saints visiting us today. But, instead of picturing any of the old time saints, we should take this day to honor the saints we have known.

Let me name three of the saints I have known, asking you then to name three of your own saints.

My first saint t was Father Jim Kielt, our rector the six years I was in his major seminary. He would always go along with what was right, saying, “Yes, you may do that. It is reasonable.”

My second saint was Emily, a seventeen-year-old Korean girl whose hand I held as she died.

My third saint was my dad. Francis Michael Sullivan. He put dinner on for ten of us every night.

Coming In  the back door from work, he would ask, “What are we doing tonight?”

Who are your saints?