St Oswald's Magazine StOM 1511 | Page 5

Ecclesiastes 3: A time for everything There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace. THE RECTORY Reverend Lesley-Ann and Ashley are very happy to receive visitors to the rectory 12 Mary Slessor Wynd, High Burnside, G73 5RJ (0141-391-4054) ALL SAINTS DAY L ittle red lights shine in the evenings, graves have been decorated and made ready for the winter, catholic people visit the graves of their loved ones, it is All Saints and All Souls festival in one. All Saints Day is a collective festival for the saints that have no special commemorative day, there are now around 6000 of those canonised or beatified. But are they all the saints? St Paul addressed his letters to the saints in Corinth or other places, the Vicar in Peasenhall welcomed us as ‘saints’ to his church, when we first made an appearance at the village church with four children in tow. In the early centuries of Christianity only those men and women were canonised who had died for their faith, later also those who had obviously lived a live in faith and achieved extraordinary deeds were pronounced ‘holy’, like Elizabeth of Thuringia of the 13th century who cared for the poor and sick despite the objections of her family, or John Bosco, called Don Bosco, a priest of the 19th century who cared for vulnerable young people. The Blessed and Saints are still considered great witnesses to the faith and are patrons to cities or guilds and professions, like St Mungo for Glasgow, or St Cecilia for music. StOM Page 5