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| 300px-All Saints painting by Fra Angelico |
Deacon Tom writes ©
"All Souls Are Called to be Saints"
Celebration
of the Feast of All Souls had its origin in the Benedictine Monastery in Cluny,
France. In 998 A.D. Odilo, the Abbot, instructed his men to pray for the souls
of the dead on the day after All Saints Day when the Church honored its Saints.
This practice was quickly embraced by the faithful and by the 13th
century had spread to Rome. By the 14 century it was a universal feast of the
church. Today we celebrate what is officially known as, “The Commemoration of
All the Faithful Departed”, commonly known as “All Souls” day.
The arranging of All Saints
Day and All Souls Day back to back gives us a great opportunity to reflect
on our lives in light of our Christian vocation and our individual mortality. As
we recall the lives of those who have gone before us, we can’t help but know
that one day we will follow in their footsteps. What kind of life do we want to
live? What spiritual legacy and witness do we want to leave? What did we learn
from the lives of the Saints and the holy people have gone before us? Do you see the wisdom of connecting the
Feasts of All Saints and All Souls?
To make the relationship between these two feasts practical, we have to
overcome a general misperception that the Feast of All Saints is only about
paying homage to the great saints, the likes of St. Francis, St Augustine, St.
Thomas or St. Peter. The Feast of All Saints encompasses a much wider vision.
Just after converting to
Catholicism, Thomas Merton was asked by a friend what he wanted to be, now that
he was Catholic. “I don’t know, I suppose I just want to be a good Catholic”,
Merton replied. His friend came back with, “What you should say is that you
want to be a saint!” Merton was dumbfounded. “How do you expect me to become a
saint?” Merton asked him. To which his friend said: “All that is necessary to
be a saint is to want to be one. Don’t you trust that God can make you what He
created you to be, Thomas”? Merton
was silent.
These words must have taken
root in Merton’s heart. For he would go on to become one of the great spiritual
thinkers and writers of the last century, and, in the eyes of many, he was
indeed a saint.
It’s good to recall these
words of wisdom imparted to Merton by his friend because they speak so simply and profoundly to our calling as Catholic
Christians. We should want to be saints. And to be a saint, all we need is to
want to be a saint.
The Church elevates the lives
of the Saints to give us a good example of ordinary people who have attainted
extraordinary holiness. These men
and women have dedicated their lives to being witnesses of the faith through
sacrifice, service, and prayer. Often they suffered great pain, rejection, torture,
and, all too often, even death in professing their love and devotion to God. It is right that
they be honored and their intercessions sought by the faithful throughout the
ages.
At the same time, our church
also recognizes the ordinary acts of courage and dedication on the part of
those living the faith day in and day out… that is, the “All Souls”. We
believe in the “Communion of Saints”, that body of believers who, in addition
to those “major” Saints, have professed their faith in God by their daily
perseverance and their constant prayers. Included in this group are our family,
loved ones, and friends, all those people who got up every day, took care of
their families, and lived a good life, struggled to do the right thing…one day
at a time. When things were good, they were faithful…When things were bad…they
were faithful. In remaining faithful in good times and in bad, they handed on
to us the legacy of our faith, our Catholic “Tradition”.
As we remember our loved ones
and those who have gone before us and their sacrifice, their witness encourages
us to imitate the good example they gave us. We call them to mind now as they
share their reward for hearing and responding to their call to be saints. We turn to them that they may ask God to
help us answer our call to holiness so we may join them when our pilgrimage on
earth comes to an end.
Enjoy
the day!
Deacon
Tom
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