Welcome back to the Basin and Towel podcast! I’m your host, Chris Cahill. I live in Lodi, Ohio, where I recently retired from 45 years of pastoral ministry in the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

The weekend of November 1 & 2 was interesting, and a bit complex - not only the observance of All Saints’ Day, but also the 21st Sunday in the Pentecost season. The Gospel lesson for the former was the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12); the Gospel lesson for the latter was the story of Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10).

As I was working on the sermon that I would be preaching both at Calvary Lutheran Church in Parma, Ohio, and at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Pleasant City, Ohio, I wrestled with questions like What makes a person a saint? If you can tell a person’s a saint by their behaviors, what do saintly behaviors look like? and Is it possible for a person whose life doesn’t seem to be very saintly, to be a saint anyway?

The result was this sermon titled “All Saints and Ragamuffins”, which I preached at Calvary Lutheran Church on Sunday morning, November 2, 2025.

Here are some bonus links for this episode:

Matthew 5:1-12 (the Beatitudes)

Luke 19:1-10 (the story of Zacchaeus)

The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning

The Basin and Towel podcast is written and recorded by Rev Chris Cahill, Ministerial Care Coordinator of the SELC District of The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. You can find out more at the Basin and Towel website -bit.ly/bnt2025

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Unless otherwise indicated, any Scripture quotations are from the New International Version (NIV), Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. Accessed through www.biblegateway.com

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