All Saints and All Souls Day: Our Reminder to Keep Striving

The body of Christ stretches throughout time and space, and the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls Day remind us of that supernatural reality. One of the ways we know the saints are in heaven is because of their good work on earth. On All Saints Day, we praise God for the example of the saints and we ask them to intercede for the souls on earth and in purgatory. On All Souls Day, we pray for the “saints-in-waiting”—the souls who are in purgatory. These souls wait to behold the face of God, but the pain they experience in purgatory is productive, perfecting them and preparing them to meet their creator. Those of us on earth who hope to be saints deal with difficulty each day, but there is nothing we go through that is wasted suffering. Our striving on earth can be offered for our salvation and for the salvation of those suffering in purgatory. Let’s all strive to be saints. Let’s offer everything we experience in union with the Mass so we can become the saints we were created to be. And if you think you can’t be a saint, remember: your mess is not more powerful than the power of the death and resurrection of Christ. Snippet from the Show: “There is only one tragedy in the end, not to have been a saint.” -Leon Bloy