FROM THE PULPIT: HALLOWED BE THY NAME; REMEMBERING SAINTS

In many, even most I suppose, Christian traditions we pray the Lord's Prayer (Our Father) every time that we gather together. The prayer that Jesus gave to his disciples as a model teaches us to "hallow" God's name whenever we pray.

What is hallowed is holy and sacred. It is not too much of a stretch to imagine the word "halo: as a derivative of hallow.

Occasionally when I utter the words "hallowed be thy name" in prayer I think of the little boy in a Sunday school class I stood near one day as we prayed and he said "Our Father which art in heaven how do you know my name!"

Even though our typical observance of the holiday of Halloween is not at all a holy affair it too has its origin in the word "hallow" which has to do with things that are sacred.

I am gratified by the number by churches that seek to reclaim what is venerable about the day and the remembrance of dear departed souls.

The eve before All Saints in the Christian tradition is an excellent time to consider what is laudable in the lives of those who have graduated to the church triumphant in the past year. I recall that at this same time two years ago, Nov. 4, 1995, then Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin had just made a speech in which he said "peace is not only a prayer but it is a possibility even though I know that there are enemies to peace."

He was assassinated after he made that speech and because his last words were words of hope about overcoming the very evil that took his life he will forever be one of the "hallowed" souls that I remember at this time of the year.

After the year that we have just had in which Princess Diana and Mother Teresa died within days of one another they, too, should also be honored on this hallows eve.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey, said last week in a lecture to church leadership that the outpouring of people at the death of Princess Diana demonstrated a "deep strain of religious yearning (and) ... points to the need for the Church to adapt to a society not antagonistic to faith but in many cases distant from the claims of organized religion."

The passing of these hallowed ones is a message to the faithful that there is a spiritual need in the world and it is a hunger, Mother Teresa said, not just for bread but also a hunger for love.

Another lesser known "saint" also passed away on Monday, Oct. 6. Lindsey Reedy, age 14, was mourned by large numbers of persons in our community. Lindsey's mom told me recently that Lindsey "wanted to be like Diana .. and she is because she has left a legacy too." Her mom wrote of the legacy of this hallowed one in a message to Lindsey's friends: "Stay close to each other, find strength in each other and your families. Love everyone like you want to be loved. Make good decisions and don't be selfish. Never take anyone for granted, they may be gone tomorrow. Never take life for granted, it is short. Live, love and be happy."

Lindsey's mom told me that when Diana passed away and then Mother Teresa in such close proximity she told her daughter that she felt that God was just "picking his angels." God is picking his angels.

Honor those whom God has picked in your own life and live so that God will also pick you to be an angel someday. Thanks be to God who, with all the saints in glory, hallows all of our days. Now and for all eternity.

Amen.