When the Saints Go Marching In

The Feast of All Saints

Christ Glorified in the Court of Heaven 1428-30 Tempera on wood, 32 x 63,5 cm National Gallery, London

Today we celebrate one of the Church's beautiful feast, the feast of all saints. In my personal experience I would say that this celebration elicits profound feelings and meanings. When I was younger, I could not understand why we Catholics pray to the saints and pray for the departed. As a teenager in the 80's and beginning to read the New Testament, I was always searching for justification why we need to pray to the saints and to pray for the departed. Later in my early adult years my parish priest gave me a hard bound copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. By closely studying the doctrine based on the creed, the teaching on the communion of the saints was like a bolt of lighting that suddenly opened my understanding on the true nature of the Church. That the Church is not a mere human organization, it is Divine in origin and as such inheritor of eternal life. As such the apex of this Body is Jesus Christ, immortal, the Alpha and the Omega, unbounded by time, encompassing and transcending the cosmos. For in Him all lives. This is the main reason Christ rebuked the Sadducees for their unbelief in the resurrection of the Body. For why do Jews have to invoke the names of the Patriarchs if they are not inheritors of eternal life? Why do we pray to the saints? We pray to the saints because we know that they are in paradise, in communion with God and with one another. There they pray for us as we struggle and "work out" our salvation in this world. For we who are alive is in a constant battle against the Self, the world and the Devil. We need to be faithful and we need the grace of God to see us through. The saints in their nearness to God can plead for our sake. In the Bible there are many examples of how angels and holy men intercede on behalf of others. Now as to the question why there is a purgatory, the simple reason is that though we are saved by Christ's sacrifice on the cross, we need to satisfy the justice of God. Sin not only brings eternal death it also brings with it tangible consequences. How do I illustrate this truth? For instance if a man would live an unhealthy lifestyle naturally he will suffer the tangible consequences and perhaps he may repent of what he has done but that does not negate or erase the physical results. Another example would be that of man who left his wife and children for another woman. At the end the man may repent and find forgiveness, but that does not erase the long years of pain of abandonment suffered by the wife and children. hence even if the man finds salvation because of his repentance he need to realize and pay for the pain inflicted on his wife and children. This clearly shown by this passage in the New Testament "But if someone's work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire." (1 Cor. 3;15 NAB).

Thus, the feast of all saints is one feast in the church that consoles us, strengthens us and increase our love for one another. Let us honor our Saints and pray that we may be aided by God's grace so that at the end of time we shall march in the wedding feast of the Lamb.