“We will be like Him. For we
will see Him as He is.” – These are the words we hear from St. Paul in today’s
epistle. What glorious words for us to reflect upon as we celebrate the Feast
day of All the Saints in Heaven.
When we are in Heaven we will
be like God. We will not be God, but we will be like Him. That’s hard to
imagine. But it is true! How wonderful!
Luke says the Bible that the
Saints are equal to the Angels and are sons of God.
The saints have finished the
race of this life, they have fought the battle against evil and they have won!
They are now with Jesus in Heaven, and they see Him clearly face to face. They
have received their reward for living lives of virtue, a reward for which we
cannot even comprehend.
It is true, not everyone who
dies goes straight to Heaven; some, those who rejected God and refused to
follow his commandments, will sadly go to Hell. Others will spend quite a bit
of time in purgatory, being purified of their selfishness, before they enter
Heaven. Tomorrow we will remember them. Most souls, ourselves included, will
spend some amount of time in purgatory before entering into the glory of God.
We will pray for the dead, especially the holy suffering souls in purgatory who
need our prayers, as they are praying for us.
We will remember our
relatives and friends who have gone before us and will pray for them.
But today, we celebrate the
lives of the Saints already in Heaven. They are there, triumphant, joyful,
eagerly awaiting our arrival, and praying for us to stay on the right path.
Who are they though? Who are
the saints? They are our heroes! The reason we have statues and images of them
in all of our houses and in our Church is because they are the ones who went
before us and participated fully in God’s grace by living lives of virtue and
humility. They gave us examples to follow on how to live a Christian life. The
Church recognizes that there are certain souls that lived such heroic lives
that when they died they went straight to Heaven.
How do we know which souls went
straight to Heaven though? Well, the Church has a process called canonization
where miracles are attributed to individuals who prayed through the
intercession of these holy men and women. Also. the lives of these holy men and
women are closely scrutinized and after a long process, which includes elements
of the supernatural, it can be concluded that these men and women are in
Heaven. Some even have bodies here that never corrupted after death. Saints
like Bernadette and Claire and Jean Vianney.
Others had other miracles
attributed to them. They are certainly in Heaven.
Men like John Paul II, Padre
Pio; women like St. Therese, Mother Teresa, St. Joan of Arc, and many others
who persevered through the challenges of life, stayed close to the sacraments,
and were incredible witnesses to the Truth of the Gospel.
And not only are they in
Heaven enjoying eternal happiness, where there is no more suffering, they are
also very active in helping us. This is why we have patron saints. Saints are
in Heaven, close to God, for the real purpose of prayer and intercession.
The Saints in Heaven are
praying for us.
Patron Saints are
intercessors, friends in Heaven, who are protectors and guiders; chosen usually
for something they specialized in while on here. For example, St. Jude is the
patron saint of impossible causes. Why? He
is the patron of impossible causes because the Scriptural Letter of
Jude urges Christians to persevere in difficult times. Also,
St. Bridget of Sweden was directed by Our Lord to turn to St. Jude with great
faith and confidence. In a vision, Christ told St. Bridget, “In accordance with
his surname, Thaddeus, the amiable or loving, he will show himself most willing
to give help.” He is the patron of the impossible because Our Lord identified
him as a saint ready and willing to assist us in our trials.
There are many other patron saints that
are willing and ready to help us on this journey. There is St. Christopher,
patron of those who travel, St. Joseph, patron of fathers and workers, St.
Augustine and St. Maria Goretti, patrons of those who struggle with purity and
chastity. There are saints for just about everything, and we shouldn’t be afraid
to ask them for help and develop relationships with them. They are in Heaven,
they hear us, and they want to help.
Above all the saints however
there is one, who each of us should be close to without any questions. We
should run to her and talk with her every day, we should treat her as she is
our mother and we should love her as she loves us. Her name is Mary, the mother
of Jesus and the Queen of All Saints, the Queen of Heaven. There is no better
help of Christians than Mary the mother of Christ. The Blessed Mother cares for
us so deeply and nothing that she ask of Jesus will be denied her. She is next
to Him with our prayers. Let us continue to go to Mary every day.
So today we celebrate all the
Saints and we continue to ask for their help, so we might follow their examples
and lead lives of holiness as they did. It’s not easy to be a faithful
Christian, especially in a world full of distractions and with an enemy in
Satan always tempting us to be selfish, but with the power that comes from the
Cross of Christ and the prayer of the Saints and Angels in Heaven, especially
the Blessed Mother, we can overcome these temptations and live lives of heroic
virtue.
May God continue to bless
you, and may we all be practicing Saints here as we await the day of our final
judgment when we hope to join with all the Saints in Heaven.
