ALL the Saints (All Saints' Day C)

A sermon by the Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda, written for and delivered at All Saints' Episcopal Church, Tybee Island, GA, on Sunday, November 2, 2025, for the commemoration of All Saints' Day (Year C).

Image Credits: https://www.oca.org/news/headline-news/call-for-proposals-new-icon-of-all-saints-of-america; https://nickcady.org/2014/03/17/who-was-saint-patrick/; https://sfarch.org/st-francis-of-assisi-800th-anniversary-of-the-stigmata/; http://deaconessalexander.georgiaepiscopal.org/

Primary Bible Reading(s)

(Click on November 1, 2025, to see all of the Lectionary Texts)

Luke 16:20-31 (NRSVue)

20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you[d] on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven, for that is how their ancestors treated the prophets. 24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 “Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. “Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets. 27 “But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; 28 bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

ALL the Saints

By the Rev. Guillermo A. Arboleda, Program Manager for New Starts, ELCA

There once was a young man born and raised on the Island called Great Britain. He was working in the fields when one day, pirates raided his village. They captured and enslaved him. They brought him by boat to their home, a place called Ireland, where they forced him to work as an animal herder for the next six years. At that point, he escaped and found a way across the sea back to Britain. During his time in slavery, the young man dedicated himself to the God he learned about in childhood. He prayed in the fields. And when he made it back home, he answered a call to ordained ministry. Patrick served as a priest for years in his local community, and he was eventually ordained as a bishop. He used to herd animals for his captors, but then Patrick shepherded God’s flock of sheep in the church.

It would seem that Patrick had carved out a fulfilling life back home in Britain. He had suffered greatly in his youth, but by God’s grace he overcame those struggles and became a faithful leader in the church. And his story could have ended there. But if it did, we might not know Patrick’s story. 

Because one day, God gave Patrick a vision calling him to go back to Ireland. I don’t know about you, but if I were captured, trafficked, and enslaved in a foreign land, escaped and returned home, there is no way I would ever want to go back. And I certainly can’t imagine wanting to go back in order to serve and minister to them, preach the gospel of love and mercy, care for the sick, and feed the hungry. But Patrick answered the call. Patrick knew the words of Jesus: “Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27-28). 

Despite his pain and hardship at their hands, Patrick chose to love the Irish people, his former enemies and make them his friends and neighbors. Patrick became the “Apostle to the Irish” and helped to establish the Church in that place. Now, the former slave in Ireland is known as Ireland’s patron saint. The last became first and the lowly raised up.

Patrick’s story took place in the 400s. Nearly 800 years later, in the 1200s, God chose another unlikely person to become a messenger to the Church. The son of a wealthy Italian merchant, Francis lived lavishly. He enjoyed the finer things in life, and he dreamed of winning fame and glory on the battlefield -- a real Prince Charming-type. He became a soldier in one of the contemporary church’s many misguided Crusades. After a particularly brutal battle, Francis was injured and barely survived. This led him to a spiritual crisis. 

Francis gave up drinking, partying, fighting, and status-seeking. He gave up his wealth. He dedicated his life to loving his poor neighbors and becoming poor himself. Francis came to embody Jesus’ words: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. … Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. … Give to everyone who asks of you, and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again” (Luke 6:20, 24, 30). Francis sparked a reform movement that would transform the church. He and his friends (like St. Clare and St. Bonaventure) inspired generations of Christians to trust God more than worldly possessions and love poor people more than our own false security. St. Francis showed us the power of radical generosity to change lives.

But saints aren’t just from the ancient past. They aren’t just from far away continents. There are saints from right here in Georgia. The patron saint of our diocese is a woman who overcame so much adversity and remained committed to loving all her neighbors and even her enemies. Anna Ellison Butler Alexander was born in 1865 to an enslaved family on St. Simon’s Island. After the Civil War ended and her family was emancipated, they moved to Pennick, near Brunswick. Anna family’s former enslavers were Episcopalians, and Anna’s parents were committed to the Episcopal faith, teaching their children to read using the Book of Common Prayer and the Bible.

Anna grew up equally committed to the church and to the power of education. Anna started her career as a public school teacher in under-resourced schools for Black children. But she was frustrated that she couldn’t provide enough for her students and that so many Black kids didn’t come to school. It was too far away. So Anna began teaching at a school attached to St. Athanasius’ Episcopal Church in Brunswick. She brought along any children she could find during her long commute by foot and by boat from Pennick to Brunswick. 

Eventually, Anna founded a new Episcopal school in Pennick to care for the Black families in that rural community. Like her father, she taught the children to read using the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer, leading them in Morning Prayer services every day. She arranged for the priest in Brunswick to come on some Sundays to preach, lead Holy Communion, and baptize children and their families. This incredible work led to the formation of Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Pennick in 1902. By 1907, the Bishop of Georgia recognized Anna’s outstanding leadership and honored her with the title of deaconess. Deaconess Anna Alexander was the first and only Black woman to be an Episcopal deaconess (shortly after she died, we allowed women to become deacons and eliminated the office of deaconess).

Deaconess Alexander dedicated her life to serving poor children and their families. Like Francis, St. Anna lived by Jesus’ words, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours in the kingdom of God.” During the Great Depression, Deaconess Alexander ran food distributions for Black and white residents alike. Even in Jim Crow times, the Deaconess’ even-handed, no-nonsense leadership earned enough respect that white men would tip their hats to greet her. Like Patrick, St. Anna lived by Jesus’ words, “Love your enemies; do good to those who hate you; bless those who curse you; pray for those who mistreat you” (Luke 6:27-28). 

On this All Saints’ Day, how do Patrick, Francis, and Anna Alexander inspire us to live like saints? How is God calling us to respond to Jesus’ words today?