During the month of November, we the members of the Church on earth, celebrate the members of the Church in Heaven. As we do so, we celebrate those who are already in Heaven, we pray for our departed loved ones who we hope will be admitted to Heaven through God’s mercy, and we remind ourselves that Heaven is the destiny to which we are also called. Heaven is our true homeland.

We begin the month of November on this November 1^st by celebrating the Solemnity of All Saints—a solemnity so important that we celebrate it even when it falls on a Sunday. On the Solemnity of All Saints, we the members of the Church on earth, celebrate the many men and women of previous generations who were once members of the Church on earth, who are now members of the Church in Heaven. Today, we celebrate that “great cloud of witnesses,” who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith, and are now members of the Church in Heaven. These saints are the great Christian witnesses who lived their lives in communion with Christ on earth and are now alive and well with Him in Heaven for all eternity. When we think of the saints, we think of those great Christians like St. Pope John Paul II, St. Theresa of Lisieux, St. Marguerite Bourgeoys, the Canadian Martyrs, St. Peter and the other famous saints whom are churches are named after. Rightly, we can also think of the less famous members in the Church in Heaven, like the holy people in our own families, who have not been declared by the Church to be saints, but who have inspired us by their way of living and communicating the faith. In the saints we see an example of how we are to live and we are reminded of the fact that Heaven is our true homeland and destiny. St. John Paul II during his own lifetime was a great lover of the saints. He canonized so many of them because he believed that we needed examples of all kinds of saints to remind us that the Christian life was possible for all of us, no matter what our profession or way of life. The saints remind us that through God’s mercy, salvation is possible for each of us. Continue reading →