The Saints of God

by Deacon Lorna Goodison on November 04, 2021

Last Monday, November 1st, was All Saints Day. In the Church’s liturgy, this Feast Day is moveable to the first Sunday in November. This coming Sunday, the first Sunday of November, we celebrate the Feast of All Saints.

All Saints Day invites us to contemplate on God through whom fallen humans are transformed into saints. Sunday’s gospel (John 11:32-44) demonstrates God’s glory, God’s spiritual power over life and death. Bodily decay begins after three days, and Lazarus has been dead for four days. But Jesus commands life for Lazarus by the authority of His word, “Lazarus, come out!” And life returns to Lazarus. In Lazarus’ resuscitation, we discern God’s vision for healing, for wholeness, for freedom from pain, for a new creation transformed in love. Jesus’ later death and victorious resurrection opened the way for the new, everlasting life for all believers.  

 On All Saints Day, we celebrate the departed souls who by faith discerned God’s vision of life beyond the physical world. Convinced of the truth of God’s inexhaustible love and His promise of eternal life, they loosened their hold on the material world. Filled with the Spirit, they lived and spoke God’s word boldly and courageously, unmindful of the consequences.  The departed saints become a great cloud of heavenly witness, who join with the Church on earth in praising and adoring God in Christ. We honor all the saints of the Church for shining the light of Christ on the world.  We remember also the multitude of unnamed saints known only by God; the faithfulness of priests, parents, grandparents, teachers, friends, and others who by their expression of God’s love left a heritage of spiritual fruits.   

Are we saints? The Apostle Paul addressing the Church in Rome, wrote, “To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints…” We are called by God to be saints. Paul exhorts the believers, prospective saints, to set their minds on the things of the spirit. But it seems that Lazarus is in some way, a metaphor for each of us. Just as Jesus ordered that Lazarus be unbound from the grave cloth, we also need to be unbound from the death-cloths of this world. Jesus desires to unbind us, to save us, to make us saints. He alone has the divine power to do so. All Saints Day calls us to honestly question if we are bound more to the things of the world than to the Spirit.  We examine ourselves, then in confession, we lift up our heads to God who gives us the grace of striving to live in the Spirit. 

Tags: life, death, transformation, eternal life, wholeness, spiritual power, all saints day, feast of all saints

About the Author
Deacon Lorna Goodison

Reverend Lorna Goodison was ordained to the Diaconate on April 29, 2007. After discerning a call to ordained ministry, Deacon Lorna completed a process of spiritual discernment and pursued three years of study at the Diocesan School for Christian Studies. She also completed three units of hospice care training through Vitas and for a short while she was a volunteer Chaplain. Highlights of her continuing education activities include a guided visit to Israel and attending the Festival of Homiletics in Boulder, Colorado.

Soon after her ordination, Deacon Lorna was called to serve as Deacon at St. Mary Magdalene. She initiated an outreach ministry to the homeless at St. Laurence Chapel, obtaining the support and involvement of most members of the congregation. This ministry remained a vibrant outreach of the Church until the Chapel closed in 2019.  Other outreach ministries formed include an informal group of members who stay in touch with members who are ill and shut-in. Deacon Lorna remains committed to both the in-reach and outreach ministries of the Church. She has led quiet day reflections for groups within and outside of St. Mary Magdalene. She has often led Deacon’s Masses at small churches without a priest. Of all the ministries in which Deacon Lorna participates, she is most humbled and grateful to be involved in the ministry of praying with congregants facing life’s challenges.

Deacon Lorna serves the Diocese of Southeast Florida as a member of the Disciplinary Committee. She also serves on the Board of Deacons.   

Professionally, Deacon Lorna worked for some years in Human Resource Departments as a Training Manager, but most of her working years were spent in Social Work. She worked with at-risk teenagers counselling them and guiding them to resources to build a meaningful future. The last twenty years of her profession, were spent working with Seniors, guiding them to the resources needed to maintain their safety and independence. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Work and a master’s degree in Adult Education. She is now retired, cherishes some alone time for prayer and reflection, but divides her time between the Church and her family which consists of two daughters, their husbands and three grandchildren.

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