Welcome and Introduction
 
Hello, and welcome to worship.  Today we celebrate All Saints Day when, with the Church across the world and throughout all time, we are gathered around God’s throne so sing divine praises.  In our singing and praying, our listening and thinking we are challenged to live as saints, to be visible in our culture by our embodiment of the Beatitudes – just as the saints embodied them of old.  My name is Andy Braunston and I try and live out my call to sanctity through serving as the United Reformed Church’s Minister for Digital Worship –  a role I fulfil from the beautiful island county of Orkney which has had our share of saints too.  So let’s come and worship God together.  
 
Call To Worship
 
Come from north and south, east and west, we come to worship God! Come and join the great crowd from every nation, tribe, language and way of life; we come to worship God! Come and affirm that ‘salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb’; we come to worship God! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God  forever and ever, Amen!
 
Hymn       For All The Saints
William W How (1823-1897) The Choir of the Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York
 

For all the saints 
who from their labours rest,
who thee by faith 
before the world confessed,
Thy name, O Jesus, 
be for ever blest:
Alleluia, alleluia!

2 Thou wast their rock, 
their fortress and their might;
Thou, Lord, their captain 
in the well-fought fight;
Thou in the darkness drear 
their one true light:
Alleluia, alleluia!

3 O blest communion, 
fellowship divine!
we feebly struggle, 
they in glory shine;
yet all are one in thee, 
for all are thine:
Alleluia, alleluia!

4 From earth’s wide bounds, 
from ocean’s farthest coast,
through gates of pearl 
streams in the countless host,
singing to Father, 
Son and Holy Ghost:
Alleluia, alleluia!

Prayers of Approach, Confession, and Grace
 
We come and offer our praise and thanks to You, Most High,
as Your children, called, redeemed, and made holy,
marvelling at Your loving kindness.
 
We come and offer our praise and thanks to You, Lord Jesus,
longing for what will be revealed,
yearning to live as Your saints – even as we battle with our human frailty.
We look forward to when You will be fully revealed to us
and we become like You.  
We come and offer our praise and thanks to You, Most Holy Spirit,
knowing you inspire and purify us as we live out our discipleship.
You lead us, as the saints of old,
helping us make sense of our calling in this world 
and making us ever hopeful for the next.  
 
Forgive us, Eternal Trinity, when we turn to sin instead of sanctity,
when we find happiness in the transitory instead of the everlasting,
when seek to be invisible fading into our world with grace that is cheap,
instead of sharing Your costly grace 
which demands a response and a difference.
Forgive us and give us time to change!
Forgive us and give us time to turn around!
Forgive us and call us again to be Your saints! Amen.
 
Dear friends, see what grace has been lavished upon us,
we are now made children of God, but long for what is to be revealed.
Accept the forgiveness God offers, 
but turn your lives around to live as Jesus did,
showing holiness in the high street, 
sanctity in the suburbs, love to the lost, and rest to the weary. Amen.  
 
Introduction to the Readings
 
In our first reading from Revelation, we are given a vision of heaven where the redeemed from every nation, race, way of life and tongue join to sing in praise of God.  These are those who have endured and kept the faith despite great tribulation.   The Psalmist encourages the saints to sing God’s praise and to take refuge in God’s love where we will find happiness and security.  In our Epistle we hear of our existing status as being children of God with all the blessing and responsibility that goes with it whilst in our Gospel reading Jesus tells us what truly leads to a happy and fulfilled life as God’s people enjoining counter cultural values.  So, we pray for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit was we listen again for God’s word.  
 
Prayer for Illumination
 
We seek you, O Most High, and You answer us,
You deliver us from our fears.
Open our hearts and minds, Lord Jesus,
that as we listen for You in our readings,
we taste and see that You are good.
Happy are we, Most Holy Spirit,
who take refuge in You 
as we listen, understand, and obey. Amen.
 
Reading   Revelation 7:9-17
 
After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb!” And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honour and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?” I said to him, “Sir, you are the one who knows.” Then he said to me, “These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat, for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
 
Reading   Psalm 34:1-10, 22
 
Fear God, you saints I will bless the LORD at all times; 
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD; 
let the humble hear and be glad.
O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me 
and delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him, and be radiant, so your faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor soul cried and was heard by the LORD 
and was saved from every trouble.
The angel of the LORD encamps around those 
who fear him and delivers them.
O taste and see that the LORD is good; 
happy are those who take refuge in him.
O fear the LORD, you his holy ones, 
for those who fear him have no want.
The young lions suffer want and hunger, 
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.
The LORD redeems the life of his servants; 
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.
 
Reading   1 John 3:1-3
 
See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
 
Hymn       What Wondrous Love Is This?
Sometimes attributed to Alexander Means (1801–1853) Public Domain Sung by the 7pm Choir of St Francis de Salles Church, Ajax, Ontario, Canada and used with their kind permission.
 

What wondrous love is this, 
O my soul, O my soul;
what wondrous love is this, 
O my soul.
What wondrous love is this,
that caused the Lord of bliss
to bear the dreadful curse 
for my soul, for my soul,
to bear the dreadful curse 
for my soul?
 
2 What wondrous love is this, 
O my soul, O my soul,
what wondrous love is this, 
O my soul.
What wondrous love is this 
that caused the Lord of bliss 
to send this precious peace 
to my soul, to my soul,
to send this precious peace 
to my soul.
 
3 To God and to the Lamb 
I will sing, I will sing;
to God and to the Lamb 
I will sing.
To God and to the Lamb
who is the great I Am,
while millions join the theme, 
I will sing, I will sing,
while millions join the theme, 
I will sing.
 
4 And when from death I’m free, 
I’ll sing on, I’ll sing on;
and when from death I’m free, 
I’ll sing on.
And when from death I’m free
I’ll sing and joyful be,
and through eternity I’ll sing on, 
I’ll sing on;
and through eternity 
I’ll sing on.
 

Reading   St Matthew 5:1-12
 
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he began to speak and taught them, saying:
 
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, 
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you 
and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, 
for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
 
Sermon
 
In his novel, The Power and the Glory, Graham Greene charts the progress of a renegade Catholic priest in a 1920s Mexican state where the Church has been outlawed.  It was illegal to celebrate mass, hear confessions, baptise, or offer any of the Church’s sacraments.  The hero of the story quietly travels around his vast former parish saying mass at night for fear of discovery, baptising those who had been born since his last visit, solemnising marriages, and hearing confessions.  He seems to be the only priest left; another lives in the state capital married to his former housekeeper but has been made to give up the practice of his ministry and is despised by the people he now refuses to help.  Lest you think the priest at the centre of the story is a hero we find out fairly quickly he’s got a problem with alcohol and has fathered a child.  He mislays his prayer book and  somewhere along the way he’s left behind some of the ritual objects he needs.  He does, however, have several opportunities to escape but never takes them feeling drawn back to his people.  Eventually he is betrayed and, at the end, facing execution he realises that it would have been quite easy really to have been a saint; to have followed Jesus’ Beatitudes, to have been better.  After his execution we read of two missionary priests come to the state with holy cards proclaiming our hero a saint and martyr; his memory and story now refashioned for the Church’s own purposes in proclaiming the Kingdom.  Greene was, of course a committed Catholic and wrote about an all too human priest struggling to be holy and his struggles to live as a faithful disciple of Jesus in a time of persecution.
 
Persecution was the situation when the Book of Revelation was written in the second half of the first Century with sporadic persecutions of Christians in the Roman Empire.  The Romans saw Christians as being anti-social for their refusal to take part in the Roman imperial cult.  The book as a whole mixes vision and letter, song and list, oracle and narrative.  It’s not an easy book!   Today’s passage, drawing images from the Book of Daniel, has the idea of purification through martyrdom.  We see a vision of salvation with a great unnumberable multitude who are saved from all the nations– the saints.  In the first part of the chapter, we have a vision of a smaller number saved from Israel, but, in this second vision, we have the saved from all the nations.  The Hebrew word for salvation, which the writer would have known despite using Greek, has connotations of welfare, deliverance, salvation, and victory.  The dialogue makes clear these are those who came through persecution and tribulation; their cleansing from being soiled to being holy is through Jesus’ sacrificial death.  The allusion is to repentance, conversion, and baptism which, together, both indicate and give effect to a person’s transformation.  The passage is set for All Saints Day as it gives a vision of the redeemed from every nation, culture, and language standing in praise of God.  These are those who have been saved – in this context those who have held fast despite persecution.  The saints experience the wholeness of salvation which is promised to all who follow Jesus.   Our Psalm, which in Hebrew has each verse starting with an ascending letter of the alphabet, was chosen to reflect the Revelation reading to show the dependence that saints have on the Lord.  
 
Our epistle is from the first of three letters attributed to “John”.  We’re not sure who he was but think the letter was written a little after Revelation.  In today’s passage the writer assures us of our identity as children of God and our eventual becoming like Christ in the resurrection.  In Jewish thought the identity of being God’s children is used to convey the special, intimate, nature of the relationship between God and the people – and how this status placed moral and behavioural obligations on the Jewish people.  The writer adds us, as Christians, into this relationship and obligation.  Our status, as believers, as children of God, is not the result of our own achievements; we are recipients of God’s love.  In the persecution the original readers would face, the writer assures the believers that their rejection by the world is a sign of the world’s own rejection of God the Father and Jesus – God the Son.  The writer moves from the reliance on Christ’s return at the end with an emphasis on what we are now – children of God – yet what we will become is yet to be revealed.  It’s not just glory in the hereafter but now we have the status, dignity, and, crucially, the responsibilities of being the children of God. 
 
These responsibilities are outlined in our Gospel reading where we hear the beginning of Jesus’ sermon on the mount.  The word “Beatitude” comes from the Latin “beatus” and Greek “Makarios” meaning “blessed” or “fortunate”.  It’s a word that is used at least 68 times in the Old Testament where it’s often rendered as “happy.”  This is the most famous of Jesus’ sermons and gives a pattern for discipleship.  The Early Church understood the Beatitudes to be a call to perfection addressed to every Christian.  Jesus sets out this radical ideal to which we should all aspire – figures like Francis of Assisi, Leo Tolstoy, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Mother Theresa, and Desmond Tutu have tried to live their lives in harmony with this ethic.  Over the years Christians have wrestled with the Beatitudes.  Some see them as a list of moral ideals we can’t possibly hope to fulfil, others as issues of private morality that we can’t take into public life – after all we may wonder if being meek a useful response to President Putin.  Add to this are the different ways we might think of salvation; for many the idea of Jesus’ death remitting God’s anger is one that is persuasive; his death secures our forgiveness which, for some, means that whatever we do, and however we live, we’re still Christian due to that forgiveness.  For others who think Jesus’ death secures salvation for all, there’s no need to change.  Bonhoeffer called these theologies “cheap grace” as we are called to change.  We should see the Beatitudes as a radical call to the people Jesus gathers to himself to change, to be different.  
 
The Church is not meant to be at home in the world; we’re not meant to blend in with the power and culture of the day but to be different.  The Beatitudes reveal a very different way of living and acting than we see in the world.  Instead of power and wealth, we’re told to be meek peacemakers.  Instead of riches, we’re to value the poor in spirit.  We can only make sense of this sermon, these Beatitudes, if we interpret them through the lens of Jesus Christ and we can only make sense of Jesus through this sermon.  We can’t then, separate out the message from the messenger.  These are words which speak of the reality of the new age, the Kingdom, breaking through, being made possible in time.   
 
Contemporary theologian Stanley Hauerwas sees the Sermon on the Mount not as an ethic but as a call to constitute a new people, the Church.  It is not a list of requirements but a description of those gathered around Jesus – and to be saved is to be gathered.  The meek, those who want no part in the power games the world plays, are valorised by Jesus.  Those excluded and ignored by the world are included in the Kingdom – the poor, the meek, the peacemakers.  More, these are the building blocks of the Church – God’s children.  These values, these people are what should make us distinctive but, since very early days the Church has wanted to blend in, to be safe, to join in with the powerful, and so become invisible.  Hauerwas noted that in the earliest Church it took great bravery to be a Christian but, after Christianity become the state religion, it took great bravery not to be a Christian.  
 
Hauerwas echoed Luther and Calvin’s understanding of the Beatitudes as descriptions of what a faith filled life looks like rather than a set of demands which we’d follow to gain God’s favour.  Luther noted they flip the order of the world around.  Calvin saw the Beatitudes as an encapsulation of the Christian life-giving comfort in adversity – Calvin knew a thing or two about adversity as the divides of the Reformation became more acute.  Like Luther he saw the inversion of the world’s values in them and, like Luther, saw the Beatitudes as signs of God’s work in the elect.  He urged people to see them as promises of the future with all those words from Jesus about the future “they will be comforted”, “they will inherit”, “they will be filled”, they will receive mercy”, “they shall see God”, “they shall be called the Children of God”.  
 
So, this Sunday, as we mark All Saints’ Day we’re celebrating all those who through history have been gathered by Jesus into the Church.  All those not content to be invisible by blending into the cultures around them but to challenge and sanctify those cultures with the values of the beatitudes.  We celebrate the great crowd beyond number of people “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” who found unity in the praise of God, but who came from every place under heaven.  More, we remember that these were the persecuted and despised, the people of no worldly account but who were seen as heroes of the kingdom.  Maybe they were like Greene’s flawed, alcohol addicted, vow breaking priest who, despite his frailties and failures, refused to escape as he continued to bear witness to the Gospel and serve his people.  Maybe that great crowd will include us with our failures, addictions, and vow breaches as we, in our frailty, bear witness to the values of the Kingdom espoused by Jesus in the Beatitudes.  Let’s pray.
 
Be with us, Lord Jesus, as we seek to follow You,
to live according to Your values,
showing that we are blessed in the ways of the Spirit,
not the ways of the world. Amen.
 
Hymn       Ye Holy Angels Bright
Richard Baxter (1615-1691)  Public Domain Sung by the combined choirs of St. Paul’s, Ivy, and Christ Episcopal Church, Charlottesville
 

Ye holy angels bright,
who wait at God’s right hand,
or through the realms of light
fly at your Lord’s command,
assist our song,
for else the theme
too high doth seem
for mortal tongue.

2 Ye blessed souls at rest,
who ran this earthly race,
and now from sin released,
behold the Saviour’s face,
his praises sound,
as in his light
with sweet delight
ye do abound.

3 Ye saints, who toil below,
adore your heavenly King,
and onward as ye go
some joyful anthem sing;
take what he gives
and praise him still,
through good and ill,
who ever lives.
 
4 My soul, take now thy part,
triumph in God above,
and with a well-tuned heart
sing out the songs of love;
let all thy days
till life shall end,
whate’er he send,
be filled with praise.

Affirmation of Faith
 
Our culture tells us of blessed billionaires but Jesus says:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
 
Our culture distracts us from inequality, injustice, 
racism and poverty but Jesus says:
“Blessed are those who mourn for how things are, 
for they will be comforted.”
 
Our culture valorises the strong and powerful, but Jesus says:
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”
 
Our culture tells us that things are complex, 
that little can really change, but Jesus says:
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, 
for they will be filled.”
 
Our culture screams for ever more draconian responses 
to crime and countries we don’t like, but Jesus says:
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.”
 
Our culture titillates, and glamorises the young and the attractive, 
seeking to sell pleasure, but Jesus says:
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”
 
Our culture is addicted to war, but Jesus says:
“Blessed are the peacemakers, 
for they will be called children of God.”
 
Our culture despises migrants who flee war and want, 
poverty and persecution, but Jesus says:
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, 
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
 
Our culture demands that we are liked 
and seek validation on social media but Jesus says:
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you…
on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.”
 
And so, with the great multitude that no one can count, 
from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, 
who stand before the throne of God, we cry out in loud voice, saying, 
“Salvation belongs to our God!”
 
Intercessions
 
O Most High, we pray for those from every nation, language, faith, 
and way of life, who suffer persecution for what they believe, 
or how they love, or who they are,
that our world may become more tolerant,
that torturer and tyrant may be bought to trial,
and that all may live freely.
 
We pray too for those who seek to change the world as it is,
into what it could be.
 
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer.
 
Risen Lord Jesus, we pray for the Church,
the community of people You gather to Yourself.
Help us to be visible, to stand out from our culture,
by love not loathing, service, not status, 
weakness not wealth, beatitude not blight,
that Your loving kindness might shine from our lives
showing the salvation that comes from God.
 
We pray too for those who seek to change the Church as it is,
into what it could be.
 
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer.
 
Eternal Spirit, we pray for ourselves and those we love;
help us to live the beatitudes,  to serve those around us,
and to hold in our hearts those in need and for whom we now pray
 
pause
 
And we pray for our own needs and dreams
 
pause
 
Lord, in your mercy hear our prayer.
 
Hear our prayers, O Trinity of Love,
as we pray as Jesus taught saying….Our Father
 
Offertory
 
The Church has always had a tension between needing to be on the margins and needing resources to be secure in its work.  Those who went to the edges of society to seek sanctity soon found that their communities became wealthy.  In unstable ages the Church’s wealth gave it independence – but at great cost.  In our tradition we don’t rely on the state or much inherited wealth and rely on the generosity of our people and our entrepreneurial skills to raise the funds we need to both glorify God and serve God in the world.  God, in turn, blesses us with gifts of grace which enable us to live as people seeking to embody the beatitudes.  So, we give thanks for all that is given in this place – gifts of time and love, gifts of skill and care and, of course, gifts of money given in the plate or direct to the bank.  Let’s pray:
 
God of every good gift,
we thank you for all that You give this congregation,
and ask that you bless all of our gifts,
that we may be sources of blessing to others. Amen.
 
Hymn       Welcome All You Noble Saints of Old
Robert J Stamps © 1977 Dawn Treader Music/EMI CMP/Small Stone Media BV, Holland (Admin. by Song Solutions Daybreak,)   © 1972 Robert Stamps Sung by the English Speaking Catholic Mission, Zurich
 

Welcome you all you 
noble saints of old,
as now before your 
very eyes unfold
the wonders all 
so long ago foretold.
 
In God there is
a table set for all,
in God there is 
a table set for all.
 
2 Elders, martyrs, 
all are falling down;
prophets, patriarchs 
are gath’ring round,
what angels longed to see 
now we have found.
         
3 Who is this who 
spreads the vict’ry feast?
Who is this who makes 
our warring cease?
Jesus risen Saviour, 
Prince of peace.

Holy Communion 
 
We praise you, O Most High, we acclaim you as Lord;
all creation worships you, the everlasting Creator.
To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,
the cherubim and seraphim, sing in endless praise:

When the Saints Sanctus
Nick Fawcett © 2008 Kevin Mayhew Ltd Soloist Lucy Bunce
 

O holy Lord, O holy Lord, 
O holy Lord of pow’r and might,
Your glory fills 
the earth and heavens,
O holy Lord of pow’r and might.
 
Hosanna, Lord, hosanna Lord,
we sing hosanna, Lord to You,
we sing hosanna in the highest,
we sing hosanna, Lord, to You.
 
Bless’d be the One, 
bless’d be the One,
who in the Lord’s name 
comes to save,
bless’d be the One 
who comes among us,
who in the Lord’s name 
comes to save.  

The glorious company of apostles praise You.
The noble fellowship of prophets praise You.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise You.
Throughout the world the holy Church acclaims You:
Eternal Majesty unbounded,
with Your true and only Son, worthy of all praise,
and the Holy Spirit, our advocate and guide.
 
You, O Christ, are the king of glory, the eternal Son of the Most High.
When you took our flesh to set us free you humbly chose Mary’s womb.
You overcame the sting of death
and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
 
Before You were given over to death,
You shared in the simplicity of a meal with Your friends,
and, during that meal, You said the ancient blessing over bread,
broke the bread, and gave it to Your friends, saying
 
“take this all of you, and eat it, for this is my body broken for you.
Do this in memory of me.”
 
In the same way, after supper, You took the cup filled with wine,
said the ancient blessing, and,  giving the cup to Your friends said:
 
“Take this all of you, and drink from it, for this is the cup of my blood,
the blood of the new and everlasting promise of God,
shed for you and for many so that sins may be forgiven.
Drink this and remember me.”
 
Let us remember Jesus as we proclaim the central mystery of our faith:
 
Christ has died!  Christ is risen!  Christ will come again!
 
You,  O Christ, are seated at the right hand of the Most High in glory.
We believe that You will come to be our judge.
So come then, Lord, and help your people,
bought with the price of Your own blood,
and bring us with Your saints to glory everlasting.
 
As we wait for Jesus to come again, we pray, O Holy Spirit,
that You will come upon these gifts of bread and wine,
that they may be for us, 
the communion with the body and blood of Christ,
and that we may be, for You, 
Christ’s hands and feet, love and presence, in the world.  
 
For through You, with Christ, all glory and honour,
belongs to the Most High, forever and ever, Amen.
 
Holy things for a holy people. 
Only one is holy, the Lord Jesus Christ. 
We are made holy in him.
 
The bread of heaven in Christ Jesus. 
The cup of salvation in Christ Jesus.
 
Music for Communion    Gifts of Bread and Wine
Christine McCann © 1978, Kevin Mayhew OneLicence No. # A-734713 sung by Emmaus Music and used with their kind permission.
 
Post Communion Prayer
 
Day by day we bless you, O Most High;
we praise your name for ever.
As You have fed us at this table today, Lord Jesus, 
keep us from all sin.
Holy Spirit, show us Your love and mercy,
for we have put our trust in You.
In You, O Trinity of Love, is our hope:
let us never be put to shame as we seek to love and serve 
You in our world.  Amen.  
 
Hymn       Rejoice in God’s Saints Today and Always
Fred Pratt Green (1903-2000) © 1973, 1980 Stainer & Bell Ltd One Licence No. # A-734713
Sung by the choir of First United Methodist Church at Chicago Temple
 

Rejoice in God’s saints, 
today and all days!
A world without saints 
forgets how to praise.
Their faith in acquiring 
the habit of prayer,
their depth of adoring, 
Lord, help us to share.
 
2 Some march with events 
to turn them God’s way;
some need to withdraw, 
the better to pray;
some carry the Gospel 
through fire and through flood: 
our world is their parish: 
their purpose is God.

3 Rejoice in those saints, 
unpraised and unknown,
who bear someone’s cross, 
or shoulder their own:
they shame our complaining, 
our comforts, our cares: 
what patience in caring, 
what courage, is theirs!
 
4 Rejoice in God’s saints, 
today and all days!
A world without saints 
forgets how to praise.
In loving, in living, 
they prove it is true:
the way of self-giving, 
Lord, leads us to you.