All Saints Day

 Today, we are celebrating all saints, not just the saints whose names are mentioned in the Mass texts, not just those were canonized saints by popes, but all those who enjoy the happiness of heaven, whether canonized or not--- and we hope that our loved ones, relatives and friends are among the saints in heaven.

We view the church as being in three states, the church Triumphant are the saints who are in heaven, The Church suffering are the souls in purgatory and the church militant, who are those on earth striving to become saints as they are God’s army battling against the forces of evil. We believe that all three are united around Jesus’ cross & resurrection. We profess our faith the Communion of Saints in during the Apostle’s Creed: We say, “I believe in the Holy Spirit---the holy Catholic Church---the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins---the resurrection of the body---and life everlasting.”

Believing in the communion of saints means believing the saints in heaven are praying for us so that we too may someday share fully in the happiness of God’s kingdom.

To become a saint we need to desire to become one. We need to accept all our crosses and sufferings in this life. We need to have a heart full of love to forgive everyone, to pray and love all our enemies. We need to have a personal relationship with Jesus through prayer. We need to have total abandonment to God’s will trusting He will take care of everything. We need to practice our faith as Catholics through regular confession, attend Mass as often as possible, to spend time with Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration, to read the bible and pray the Rosary daily. Today, let us ask All the Saints in heaven, canonized and unknown saints to pray for us, so that we can imitate their life of virtue so when we depart this life, we will enter our eternal home with them. O Mary, Queen of All Saints, pray for us, who have recourse to thee.