Omkar Jadhav unsplash
Karen Hollis | Nov 1, 2026 All Saints/Souls Sunday
Psalm 34:1-10 I will give Grandfather the honour he deserves. Honour songs to him will flow like a never-ending river from my mouth.
With all me being I will boast about Grandfather. The poor with broken spirits will hear, and their hearts will dance for joy.
Let us enter the circle together and sing and dance songs of honour as we stay in step with Creator’s heartbeat on the drum.
I went to grandfather for help. He heard my voice, snatched me out of darkness, and set me free from all I feared. The faces of those who look to him shine like the sun. They will never again hang their heads in shame.
This poor man with a broken spirit, with a loud voice sent up a prayer, and Grandfather heard his cry.
Grandfather’s spirit-messenger pitches a circle of teepees around those who have deep respect for him, to keep them safe from harm.
Grandfather is good. Taste his goodness and you will know his sweetness for yourself. Harmony and well-being rest on those who go to him for shelter from harm.
Show deep respect to Grandfather, for you are his holy people. Those who honour and respect him will always have plenty. Even young mountain lions grow weak with hunger. But the ones who seek to know Grandfather will not go without any good thing.
Matthew 5:1-12 When Creator Sets Free saw this great crowd, he went back up into the mountainside and sat down to teach the people. His followers came to him there, so he took a deep breath, opened his mouth, and began to share his wisdom with them and teach them how to see Creator’s good road.
“Creator’s blessing rests on the poor, the ones with broken spirits. The good road from above is theirs to walk.
“Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who walk a trail of tears, for he will wipe the tears from their eyes and comfort them.
“Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who walk softly and in a humble manner. The earth, land, and sky will welcome them and always be their home.
“Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who hunger and thirst for wrongs to be made right again. They will eat and drink until they are full.
“Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who are merciful and kind to others. Their kindness will find its way back to them—full circle.
“Creator’s blessing rests on the pure of heart. They are the ones who will see the Great Spirit.
“Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who make peace. It will be said of them, ‘They are the children of the Great Spirit!’
“Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who are hunted down and mistreated for doing what is right, for they are walking the good road from above.
“Others will lie about you, speak against you, and look down on you with scorn and contempt, all because you walk the road with me. This is a sign that Creator’s blessing is resting on you. So let your hearts be glad and jump for joy, for you will be honored in the spirit-world above. You are like the prophets of old, who were treated in the same way by your ancestors.”
Let us pray . . . May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be reflections of your word to us today, in Christ’s name we pray. Amen
I’ve been watching this day come from a long way off. I’ve been watching this threshold approach. I’ve lived in this part of the world my whole life and have always been fascinated by the movement of light and dark. When I was maybe 7 years old we were sitting at the dinner table one night and I asked my parents why it was that sometimes we ate dinner when it was light outside and other times when it was dark.
My dad put on his science hat and told me about the tilt of the earth, the light that increases as summer comes, fades in the fall, making room for the dark and cold of winter. I was in awe that there was this other layer of reality that surrounded us.
This year, for the first time in our lives, this movement into darkness will be smooth and seamless, without a sudden change in the time. I find that when we experience something like this that is familiar but different or new, it can be an opening into a liminal space. Our senses, our perception, can make room for us to experience the present in a new way.
All Saint’s Day aligns with Samhain (sow-en) in the Celtic Christian tradition. The festival is a threshold into the season of darkness and an honouring of the ancestors. For theologian Christine Valters Paintner, this is a moment in which we prepare for winter, where we “listen for the voices we may not hear during other times of year. These may be the sounds of our own inner wisdom or the voices of those who came before us . . . In the ancient Celtic imagination, this was considered to be a "thin time" when the veil between heaven and earth grew more transparent and the wisdom of our ancestors was closer to us. We are reassured that we are not alone, that we share the world with a great "cloud of witnesses" and "communion of saints" just across the veil.” 1
There is also a kind of liminal space in our texts this morning. They are ancient and also new, as they take on a fresh Indigenous voice: Creator’s blessing rests on the ones with broken spirits, on the ones who walk a trail of tears, who walk softly and in a humble manner, who hunger and thirst for wrongs to be made right again, who are merciful and kind to others, on the pure of heart, on the ones who make peace, and who are mistreated for doing what is right.
There is so much of the human experience here, so much honesty about the seasons of life that unfold in and around us . . . it also seems that these seasons are not isolated from one another, rather if we’re honest, we bring the fullness of our humanity to each. All of this is included in the process of remembering those who have gone before us: hunger, tears, broken spirits, peace and longing . . . it’s all in there. Perhaps as we stand in this threshold, there is an invitation here for an expansion. Maybe on this day we allow the place within us that remembers to loosen and open and make room for God’s word to mix and mingle with it. Maybe in this space we remember that grief is so much more than feeling sad. It’s the past and the present, it’s warm and cool, it’s regret and gratitude and ache, perhaps a paradox or a space where seemingly contradictory things acknowledge one another. Maybe in this space we remember that grace isn’t earned, it’s a reality of the universe, and reconciliation has a timeline of its own.
Whether you resonate with this expansion or are still considering the idea, the Holy holds this space for us. Embracing our joys and our hope, God draws near.
While God is steadfast in their presence with us, there is always this mysterious piece that we come back to again and again. The Psalm reminds us that there is something important about calling out to God, reaching out with our prayers, something essential about naming our need. “This poor man with a broken spirit, with a loud voice sent up a prayer, and Grandfather heard his cry” and a connection was made. Let this be an invitation for us into prayer.
I invite us to remain in this liminal space as we transition into prayer with Gloria’s musical reflection.
Gloria Plays
Prayers of the People
Loving God, gather us into this space of prayer, this space where the veil between that which is seen and unseen is thin, where we are surrounded by our ancestors, those who have gone before us and share their presence and wisdom with us still today. In this space in between, help us to name our need, help us to name what is in the core of our hearts that we may know you meet us there. Open us to the voices we don’t often hear, our own, and those of our beloveds.
20 seconds silence
We give thanks that you are with us, O God, that you are the firm foundation within us.
With a prayerful spirit, all are welcome to come forward to pray with rocks and candles, to offer names and prayers, add photographs at the front, and linger in God’s presence.
People come forward
Loving God you have been with us throughout the ages. You have bore witness to the ways in which the story of us – of all that has come into being – has been woven together piece by piece, life by life.
We recognize, today, that it is because of the saints who have gone before us, that we are. Those who have struggled for justice, who have given so that others may live more freely – we would not be, if not for them.
In remembrance and gratitude, we name those who have loved us – those who have nurtured us, embraced us, celebrated us, or supported us. We are because they were. We name the saints who have shaped our lives and being.
Read out Names
Like our ancestors before us, you are present with us and with our world in flux. Change is happening and it is unclear to us what is possible on the other side. We lift up to you voters in the US election. We pray that their voices may be heard without interference. We pray that the process would be peaceful and have integrity. We pray that what emerges from it will serve the common good. In the uncertainty, help us to find our grounding in you, O God. We pray that from these birth pangs emerges a world that is more just and centered in your love.
Let us offer silently and aloud the prayers on our hearts and minds today:
30 seconds
Life’s sacredness, may it move us, compel us, inspire us, guide us — into possibilities we can barely, barely, barely dare to dream.
Lord’s Prayer
1 Samhain retreat booklet, CVP