The Communion of Saints are all the souls who ever lived and who ever will live on Heaven and Earth who unite for the Glory of God.
My mother in law passed away overseas some weeks ago. She waited – in palliative care – until her son, my husband, returned home to us and then quietly passed away with her daughter beside her the very next day.
When she passed away the family were very very sad at the ending of her earthly life, but equally relieved that she would be taken into the care of her Eternal Father, after the tremendous amount of suffering she had endured especially at the end of her life as a result of her illness.
However, despite any grief or feelings of gratitude, her funeral still had to be arranged. And it needed to be arranged in Lebanon – where she died and would be buried – and also in Australia and Canada where her children lived. And this took some coordination. Prior to his return to Australia, my husband had made some arrangements for when the time came for his mother to leave this life. He had spoken to priests and cousins and siblings so that everyone understood what needed to be done when the time came.
When she did finally pass away, the arrangements in Australia were organised by her daughter in laws. Grandchildren were arranged and priests were spoken to. Mass was arranged, loved ones invited. It was – in fact – a team effort to arrange.
And I have been reflecting on this over the last few days. You see, just as the burial arrangements needed to be organised for my late mother in law, and just as we needed a whole group to arrange this so that the burden did not fall on one person, so too is it essential to work together towards salvation…
Each soul on this earth relies on the souls of others – the prayers of others – the whole Communion of Saints, so to speak, to get to Heaven. The Communion of Saints are all the souls who ever lived and who ever will live on Heaven and Earth who unite for the Glory of God. And together – as many are gathered in His Name – we pray for the intercession of all souls…
I heard a talk on the Passion and Death of Christ. In that talk, the priest said that in his opinion, if it were not for the sacrifice and suffering of Saint Padre Pio that God would have ended the world… And I have been thinking about that today, because the Soul of Saint Padre Pio is one of the souls who probably worked to save mine…
And as a consider how many people it took to arrange that funeral and the various memorials, I consider the amount of help we have to achieve salvation. And thinking of that today, I am glad. For my Lord and God helps me – by putting me together with souls who can pray for me. And for that, I am just so glad…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
Comments