This week we celebrate two great feasts, ALL SAINTS on November 1 and ALL SOULS on November 2.
Both of these wonderful celebrations speak to us about the doctrine of the Communion of Saints, a reality that all of us participate in already. If you are baptized, you are part of the Communion of Saints.
We share a real spiritual connection with all the Saints, including the canonized Saints with a big “S”, like St Peter and St Paul, St. Mary Magdalene, St Augustine of Canterbury, St. Phoebe, and all the other great Saints. But we also have a real connection with all the many, many more saints who are just as holy, but not canonized. They could be saints we know: grandparents or aunts or neighbors or good and kind people at work, in school, or even neighbors. In all them God’s grace has been at work in honesty, care for others, generosity, holiness in a very ordinary and day to day way. They are saints, and I hope you know of many of them. It is a blessing to have had them in our lives.
Then on November 2 we remember and pray for All Souls. This is our way to express our care and our concern for all of our loved ones who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith. Since we do not die as perfect people, we still have to grow in faith, in hope, and love, in order to be fully present to the Transcendent Divine. That is what purgation, or Purgatory, is all about: growing in capacity and fullness of love. And like cleansing and growth on earth, that takes work. We support our beloved dead with our care and concern expressed in our prayers for them, just as we ask them to pray for us. We are all in this together.
When Isaac Hecker was searching for a church to join, he looked at many different Christian churches in the United States. He came down to Episcopalian and Catholic churches. What tipped him over to Catholicism was the Doctrine of the Communion of Saints. We are all in this together, and what we do or fail to do affects each other for good or for ill. We rely on the Communion of Saints for inspiration, support, and comfort.