During the “Lamb of God” the priest takes the host into his hands and breaks it in half. He then breaks off a third piece from the host which he places inside of the chalice. These three pieces of the host serve as a reminder of the Church which is made up of three realities. There is the Church purgative whom we will focus upon in a special way on All Soul’s Day, there is the Church triumphant whom we focus upon today as we come to celebrate All Saint’s Day, and there is the Church militant which is made up of each of us here on earth who must now strive for Heaven.
When we think of the Church I think we often fail to think about these three realities and yet they are all so closely bound together. We do a great injustice to the souls of the faithful departed if we fail to pray for them. We do a great injustice to ourself if we go through our life without having devotion to the saints. The saints are now in Heaven, they have been called home to God, and hopefully to this same home we now wish to follow after.
When we attend the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass all of these realities are present with us. We are present within the Church and we are nourished from the Altar of God by the Most Holy Eucharist. The saints of Heaven are present with us as the Sacred Mysteries unfold around us. We also pray for the dead for they too are further purified through the Mass which is offered. For example when a priest offers a Low Mass with nobody else present it is pointed out about the importance of the blessing given at the end of Mass because this blessing extends to the poor souls in Purgatory. Truly whenever we are at the Mass we are joined to these three realities which make up the Church.
Now we must come to understand that God is the just judge. For us who make up the Church militant we must strive for Heaven. We must realize that each of us are called to be saints as the souls in Purgatory have already been found worthy of being saints, but first they must pass through a period of purification. If we realize that we are called to be saints then we should also realize that we must live out our faith and profess it throughout the world. The saints did not just stumble their way into Heaven because if that is all that we are going for it is possible that we will fall short and not be found worthy of our goal. If we know are goal to be Heaven then strive for Heaven. Then participate in the Sacramental life of the Church which means frequenting the Sacrament of Confession and receiving our Blessed Lord in the state of grace.
To think if we reach our goal of Heaven we will be venerated as saints. All Saint’s Day is not exclusive to those saints who we now know by name. All Saint’s Day is for all those in Heaven whose name we now know or whose name we don’t. Nobody here probably has a family member who has been canonized as a saint, though while in Oak Ridge I did have a funeral for a family who was related to Saint Philip Neri (So I guess that anything is possible). Yet their name appearing in a dictionary of saints or not does not mean that they are not in Heaven. All Saint’s Day is a celebration of all the saints who have been called home by God, name known or unknown. Hopefully we will foster devotion to all the saints and come to follow in their footsteps in order that we too may be called home by God.
