"Death comes for us all, even for kings it comes."
+St. Thomas More, from A Man for All Seasons
Catholics celebrate All Saints Day to remind ourselves that we are not alone. The journey is not too difficult. Our deeply desired destiny does not exceed our grasp.
We have not only a "cloud of witnesses" cheering us on, but also a cohort of patron saints assisting our charge onward and upward.
So who is on your A-team? If you had to choose your top five canonized saints, who would they be and why? Perhaps they have changed over the course of your ongoing conversion to Christ--according to the different ages and stages of your life. Or maybe you have realized their fidelity to you, even when you have grown lax or lukewarm on your journey Home.
So who is on your A-team? If you had to choose your top five canonized saints, who would they be and why? Perhaps they have changed over the course of your ongoing conversion to Christ--according to the different ages and stages of your life. Or maybe you have realized their fidelity to you, even when you have grown lax or lukewarm on your journey Home.
It's good to name and invoke our spiritual friends, to trust that they walk with us, and to open our eyes to the ways that they intervene for us right now, on behalf of our eternal forever.
Catholics celebrate All Souls Day to remind ourselves of those loved ones--friends and family members--through whom the love of Christ has shone into our lives.
The Light of the World is reflected everywhere that the grace of Baptism has made a soul holy. The Love of God reverberates in every human heart, created in the image and likeness of Trinitarian Love. Therefore, every glimpse of light and love here below should help open our eyes to the fullness of life for which we were made.
Can you name those Holy Souls, now headed home to God, who have most deeply touched your life? Can you see in them an image of the Risen Lord drawing near to you, much as he did with the two travelers on the Road to Emmaus?
The heroic and everyday virtue in your favorite Holy Souls are sign posts on the Christian path of discipleship. Whether it's your grandfather's kindness, or your aunt's passion for justice; whether it's your childhood friend's grit and heroic perseverance, or your neighbor's piety: The people who have left an impact on us have done so to the extent that they were pencils in the very hand of God.
We need to picture our all-time list of Holy Souls and then become like them--for the sake of all those we meet. This is how usher in the Kingdom of God which is already at hand.
This is our prayer :)
