Today as we enter November, the last days of the liturgical calendar, the Church calls us together to celebrate All Saints. We tend mistakenly to limit our reflections to those who are in heaven.
If one reads the part of the Catechism that deals with the communion of saints one will find that it goes far beyond that.
The Church is a single body and so the good and goods of one part belong to all. The Body includes those who have already passed from this life into heaven, but also includes those being purified (tomorrow's commemoration) as well as those who are part of the Body of Christ still on pilgrimage here on earth. We are all part of the communion of saints.
In the aftermath of a storm it may important for all of us to reflect on the word pilgrimage that is such a reach part of our theological language. It reminds us that we are on a journey away from home. We will return home changed by the pilgrimage but we are not home.
On the news they speak of the numbers of people who have lost there homes. For the Christian, a hurricane can wash away a house but it cannot wash away my home. If home is where the heart is, then our home is in Christ.
Today when we say all saints let us link our hearts to all of the members of the Body of Christ, and the head of the body, Christ himself.
