Almighty God…give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you. (Collect for All Saints’ Day)
In a former parish, of which I was the rector, I always encouraged parishioners to come to All Saints’ Sunday liturgies dressed in All Saints” (or, as might be said, Halloween) costumes. I was never surprised that all the children came in costume but I was always surprised at how many––and how fully––so many adults got into this. (Of course, this might be a little dangerous to do at St. Paul’s!!!).
There are four things I hoped to bring into sharper focus by inviting everyone to come in costume or mask––things that St. Paul’s knows well but things that we can never know too well
First is to focus on the point that liturgy is intended to be both creative and fun. That does not mean that it has to be spontaneous and disorganized…. rowdy or irreverent. We are a people who love liturgy and, as long as it is done “decently and in order,” our worship is meant to be fun, creative, and more.
Liturgy is also meant to be our “work” The word “liturgy” means, as you well know, the work of the people. While in each liturgy specific people have specific roles and responsibilities, the total liturgy is the work of all who are present; there are .no or auditors. So, while it is to be work, it is to be creative, enjoyable and recreative work—like gardening (for some), or sailing, or painting, etc. In my two years at St. Paul’s I have learned anew so much about how liturgy is adult play… important adult play!
The second thing that a church full of people in costume and masks––full of people doing liturgy––is Eric Fromm’s point about how we humans alter (and at the same time, it is to be hoped improve) our actions.
Fromm said, “We act ourselves into new ways of thinking; we do not think ourselves into new ways of acting.” Dr. John Westerhoff applies that understanding to liturgy—that in doing liturgy we act ourselves into new ways of thinking and understanding that are God’s ways. So, the point is not that if a person comes to Mass dressed as a witch or the devil or a monster, that that person will, in life, act as such. The point is that in playing the playing of the roles we will learn the lesson—Fromm’s point—that we act ourselves into new ways of thinking and not the other way around. It is in the playing-our of other roles that we are better able to define and pursue the role we really seek.
The 3rd point of having the church filled with people in masks is to focus on the nature of masks—not Halloween masks but the masks that we all wear day-in-and-day-out throughout the year. By playing in and enjoying material masks we can learn the important lesson that masks are, ultimately… hot and uncomfortable. Similarly, any mask we wear in our relationships with God, with other people, and—yes—our own self-deception and denial are also ultimately sources of discomfort and, depending on your image of hell, make us very hot!
Societal pressures abound that make it easy for us to hide behind masks of many types. For example: that we are truly in control of our future… of our lives; that everything is “just fine” in our lives and in our relationships; that we can’t change If we have the courage, a careful look at two things will help us unmask ourselves and enable us, by God’s grace in Jesus, to change and grow: a careful look at our calendars—what we REALLY do with our time and a careful look at out checkbooks—what we REALLY do with our money In them is the unmasking of our true priorities.
The 4th lesson to be learned in having people wear masks to Mass is to help us to think about is the Communion of Saints—of which all baptized persons are a part––which we joyfully celebrate today. Halloween masks are, or course, related to All Saints’ Day eventhough today’s masks sometimes push that connection a little far. The custom of donning masks and costumes began in the Christian tradition as dressing up to remember and impersonate the saints who had labored before us to be faithful.
I want to read to you my favorite definition of the Communion of Saints. an early 1950’s Jr. High level children’s church dictionary (one my wife had in her Sunday Schools class).
The Communion of Saints–means the dependence of all of us in the Church on one another.
If you planned to climb a high mountain…you would go with a party and the guide would rope you all together so if one slipped the other could hold him of pull [her] back to safety.
Christians need each other too. On the long climb to heaven there are slippery places. We’d be fools to climb alone. We let our Lord rope us together in the fellowship of [the] Church by baptism… We draw the rope tighter when we receive Holy Communion. If we slip and fall, we let our line of climbers pull us back by absolution.
Who gives us the strongest pull? Why of course, those who have climbed on ahead––in other words, the saints in heaven. Whether we ask them to or not, whether we even think of them or not, they are “pulling for us” all the time. So it is that our dependence on each other has come to be called the Communion of Saints.
Yes, you too are a saint… If you were to be careless and take chances, you might pull others down. But even that can be forgiven. When forgiven and back in the Fellowship, you help pull other climbers up to God.
What I hope we got out of our playful reflection on masks, costumes, and the communion of saints today is the same thing that I hope for us as we renew our baptismal covenant (in a few minutes.)
A. That we will have creative fun with our Xn. faith and liturgy.
B. That we will be active participants in a faith community—a church—where liturgy will be understood as a way of acting themselves into new ways of thinking.
C. I hope that we will never give into complacency—that we never stop the life-long process of peeling off our masks in order that we may behold God’s unconditional love for them.
This is, perhaps, the primary purpose of reflecting on the celebration of All Saints”. I have neglected to mention that when I invited people to come to the All Saints’ liturgy is mask/costume, there is one ground rule. ALL must remove their mask when receiving Holy Communion.. There is no hiding; there is no playing when we come into the real presence of God… to whom all hearts are open, all open, all desires known and from whom no secrets are hid.
When we are able to see ourselves as God sees us we will better understand that we are unconditionally loved, and understanding that will change our daily lives, our relationships, our stewardship, because the gospel is that it is love that changes our lives for the better, not fear of punishment. It is knowing how much the Creator loves us that strengthens us to live into our baptismal covenant.
And finally, I hope that we will allow themselves to be pulled through this life and into the next by a lively awareness of being surrounded by, as well as part of, the Communion of Saints and that we will know the fulfillment of tugging for others in that direction
These are the gifts that God in Christ offers all saints through, the Body of Christ, the Church. Whether or not we make these a reality depends on … where we place our priorities.
D. And that is why we pray…
Almighty God…give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you.
