United by faith, even in death

November 9, 2007

My dear friends,

The church begins the month of November with back-to-back celebrations: the feast of All Saints on Nov. 1, and the feast of All Souls on Nov. 2. These feasts go together because, as we recite in the Creed every Sunday, we believe in the “communion of saints.”

That means that death is no obstacle to our having a continuing relationship with the people we knew here on earth. Death may bring physical separation, but spiritually we are united. Moreover, we remain one church, bound by our belief in Christ and redeemed by his death and resurrection.

Some of us are already in heaven. These are the saints whose feast days we mark individually on different days of the year, people who have been recognized by the church for having led exemplary lives. The church holds them up as models for the rest of us.

Then there are the many other saints who have not been publicly proclaimed as such but who, the church believes, are known to God. We celebrate their lives on the feast of All Saints.

Perhaps they were our parents or grandparents. Perhaps they were friends or co-workers. Perhaps their good deeds and holiness will never be known to more than the handful of people who loved them and lived with them. They are saints nevertheless and, as such, worthy of emulation.

Then there are those who are on their way to being saints, but still need to be purified. These are the souls in purgatory. They have died in God’s good graces, but have yet to attain the spiritual perfection required to be fully united with him.

They need our prayers to hasten their purification and these are the people we remember on the feast of All Souls. Again, they may be our family members and friends, people we knew and loved.

The rest of us represent “the pilgrim church on earth” — pilgrim because we are on our way to joining the others at our final destination, which is heaven or eternity with God.

On Nov. 2, and throughout the month of November, the church reminds “the pilgrim church” that we are to pray for all the faithful departed, especially those souls in purgatory who might have no one left to pray for them on earth.

“Our prayer for them is capable not only of helping them, but also of making their intercession for us effective” (Catechism, No. 958).

In the meantime, we also ask the saints in heaven to intercede for us; that is, to pray to God for our salvation as we journey through this earth. As St. Dominic put it, “Do not weep, for I shall be more useful to you after my death and I shall help you then more effectively than during my life.”

It is this circle of prayer, from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven, and from points in between to both heaven and earth, that binds believers to one another and, in turn, to Christ. All of us are part of the communion of saints.

Remember, then, to pray for the dead always, not just during the month of November. Teach your children to do so as well. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

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