When we think of saints, we may think of Mary, the mother of Jesus, apostles like Peter and Paul, or extraordinary individuals like Mother Teresa. True friends of God.
Besides those saints – shining lights of faith– there are unnumbered others in God’s company, the Feast of All Saints says. In a vision of heaven, St. John saw “a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue.” {Revelations 7, 9-13} We hope to be with them one day.
Our hope rests on a promise Jesus made, the same apostle says:
“See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are…Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed.” (1 John 3,1-3)
How shall we reach that place where we’ll be revealed as children of God? Jesus said to follow him and live as he taught. He offers the way in his Sermon on the Mount, our gospel reading for this feast says. He will be the way, the truth and the life.
We haven’t seen yet that life we hope for or what God intends us to be. Life does not end; it changes. This feast invites us to trust in God’s promise and hope for the day it’s revealed.
Extraordinary saints are not the only ones in heaven. There won’t be just a few either. Countless others are in God’s company: saints unnoticed here on earth, saints with little to show, saints who were sinners. People like us.
As we celebrate this feast, St. Bernard says:
“Rise again with Christ and seek the world above and set your mind on heaven. Long for those who are longing for us; hasten to those who are waiting for us, ask those who are looking for our coming to intercede for us. Desire their company and seek a share in their glory. There’s no harm in being ambitious for this. No danger in setting your heart on such glory. Remembering the saints inflames us with a yearning that Christ our life may appear to us as he appeared to them and that one day we may share in his glory.”
The Victor's Place 
Dear Father Victor, Very uplifting Reflection. I love the way the tree branches lift their arms to help us pray. One feels among saints in your Reflection. Thank you, Father Victor, for always helping us reach toward God.
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Dear Father Victor, While meditating before the image above, I enlarged it and saw headstones and life-sized crucifixes in the background. No wonder I felt the presence of saints earlier! Is that a photo of the holy grounds at the Monastery in Jamaica? 🤔🧐
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I recognize the photo of the cemetery on the grounds of IC Monastery. Having walked among the graves during retreat times there, I would read the names and dates. More than one deceased was missionary to China and suffered martydom. Such a great cloud of witnesses have gone before us with the sign of faith.
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