Page 69 - Demo

On this Sunday, the Sunday that follows Pente- cost, we remember the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church. We remember all the saints, both those canonized, but also especially those whose names were never revealed to us. On this day, we also re- member that we, too, are projects of holiness, work in progress to become saints, or at least that thus should be our goal and striving.
Doing that, however, is very difficult with all the ‘weights’ we carry in
life: the difficulties and burdens
that shift our focus. And this is
why the following verse from the epistle that speaks about who and what the saints are caught my attention:
“Therefore, since we are sur-
rounded by so great a cloud of wit-
nesses, let us also lay aside every weight,
and sin which clings so closely, and let us run
with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfection of our faith” )Hebrews 12: 1-2(
St. Paul is basically saying that being surrounded by the saints makes it easier to lay aside the weights and sins that we carry and concentrate on Jesus Christ and thus become holy like they did. To understand what these weights could be and how being surrounded by the testimony of the saints helps us become holy, I thought of sharing the following thoughts.
When I think of the word ‘weight’ that people carry in our days, I immediately think of two weights that most of us suffer from on different levels: The weight of anxiety and the weight of the need to always be in control [Which are very much interknitted]. I notice in my pastoral min- istry that these might be the diseases of our time. Most of us often feel the weakest when we have moments of uncertainty; worry from things
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Sunday of All Saints:
How can Saints help with “Anxiety” & “the Need to be in Control”? Hebrews 11: 33 – 12: 2/ Matthew 10:32-33, 37-38; 19:27-30
Fr. Nektarios Najjar*
* Dean St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral, Ottawa, Canada