Reflectionary (Reflection on the Lectionary) for All Saints Day 1 November 2026

 I can tap a few bars of the 1812 overture on a piano, but otherwise the only musical instruments which I can play are a comb-and-tissue-paper-kazoo and a harmonica. Forget the kazoo, I don’t have enough hair for a comb. That leaves a harmonica, a mouth organ. My pièce de résistance is When The Saints Come Marching In. Which is appropriate for this Sunday, All Saints Day. Traditionally, we remember loved ones who have died, whom we miss very much. Like the Thessalonian believers, we long for reassurance that they are safe in God’s keeping, redeemed, pain and sorrow free. The Revised Common Lectionary replaces the usual Old Testament reading with Revelation 7:9-17

“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language,” (don’t tell Pauline) “standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”

and

“ … he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

St John had to write in metaphor because his vision was inexpressible in any communication medium known to humans. Just as we are making a stab at the indescribable when we declare that “We believe in the Communion of Saints … the Resurrection of the Body, and Life Everlasting”.

There’s so much that I don’t know yet, but I sure want to be among that number when the saints come marching in.


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