Dear Friends:
When most people hear the word “church” they tend to think automatically of a building wherein sacred ceremonies and times of prayer are celebrated. While a church is that, THE Church is much more than a building. The Church, as the Second Vatican Council taught, is first and foremost, a “mystery,” which does not mean that it is beyond intellectual understanding. In theological parlance, the word “mystery” refers to the privileged reality, place or moment where the reality of heaven touches upon the reality of earth. The sacraments, rightly so, have been referred to as mysteries, for in those sacred celebrations, we here on earth encounter the goodness, the grace and the mercy of the God of heaven.
These first days of November are dedicated to a focus on the mystery of the Church, with particular attention devoted to the “Communion of Saints,” which is a fundamental belief that we have as Catholics about the Church. The Church transcends space and time. It exists in this world in us, who are called “the Church militant,” those who are in the midst of the day-to-day ongoing struggle for holiness, undergoing conversion from sin and trying to grow in holiness. We are in the midst of a great spiritual battle against sin and evil. Armed with God’s grace, and making proper and regular use of the sacraments, daily prayer, and the effort to live as Jesus calls us to live, we have good grounds for hope that we will be victorious because of the power of God’s grace at work in us.
This Wednesday, November 1, is the annual celebration of All Saints. On this day, we celebrate those “holy men and women of every time and place” who have won the victory, through the power and the grace of God, overcoming the power of sin and temptation, those who, as the Book of Revelation tells us, have “washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.” These holy men and women, the saints, comprise “the Church triumphant” and as friends of God already live in God’s presence in the glory of heaven. They are also our friends, standing before us in our struggles as models of holiness, examples to be followed and imitated. As our friends and as friends of God, they can pray. and intercede for us before the Lord for the grace and the help we need to live holy lives. It is my hope that each of us has several patron saints whom we look to as models, and to whom we pray as intercessors.
Thursday of this week is the annual Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, what we commonly refer to as All Souls’ Day. On this day, we remember the souls of all those who have died and are even now undergoing purification awaiting entrance into heaven. These souls comprise “ the Church suffering.” While they can do nothing for themselves at this point, we can say that they are assured of entering into the glory of heaven after a period of purification from sin and its effects. To be sure, I think very few people leave this world in the state of such perfection that they enter into heaven, the presence of God, immediately. All of us have sinned and we have to be purified of our sins and the effects of our sins before coming into God’s presence. This is God’s own doing, for none of us can perfect ourselves. Only the One who is perfect can make us perfect. While we think of purgatory, the state of being purified, as being painful, I like to think of that pain as something like an extreme longing, even a thirst, for the joy and happiness of heaven. The “suffering” entailed is found in our having to wait for that joy and happiness until we are ready. It is the pain of intense anticipation. We can help those undergoing the purification of purgatory with our prayers, and not only on November 2, but every day. It is a good and holy thing to pray for and remember the dead.
Have a good week!