Dear Friends,

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the Hour of our Death. + Amen.

There’s a story about a mother and her five-year-old daughter visiting a church one summer afternoon, as they walked down the aisle, little Christine was drawn to the stained-glass windows that were illuminating the entire church with vibrant colors and images of saints in glowing light of the bright sun. “Mommy,” asked Christine, “Who are those people in the windows?” “They are God’s special friends … the Saints,” her mom responded. There is St. Dominic … over there is St. Thérèse, next to her is St. Francis and over there is St. Monica.” After a pause, little Christine said, with the simplicity and wisdom of a child, “I know now what a Saint is, Mommy! A Saint is someone who lets the light shine through them.” At that her mother whispered a silent prayer of thanksgiving insight. Indeed, a Saint is someone who lets the light shine through them, the light of Christ received at Holy Baptism. Our most fundamental vocation as followers of Jesus is to become a Saint … striving day in and day out “to walk always as children of the light … [keeping] the flame of faith alive in [our] hearts … [so that] when the Lord comes, [we may] go out to meet Him with all the saints in the heavenly kingdom.” (cf. Rite of Baptism for Children, Prayer after receiving the Baptismal Candle lighted from the Paschal Candle.) From the moment of our reception of Holy Baptism we enter into the communion of saints. And while here on earth, we struggle with our limitations and sin to bear witness to the divine life that has been poured into our hearts and entrusted to our care; we are, nonetheless, called to engage the blessings, challenges and responsibilities presented to us when we accept the Gospel. If we allow its transformative power to enter our hearts as we daily confront the tendencies toward narcissistic self centeredness, we experience the expanse of our hearts and conform ourselves to Christ as we move toward Eucharistic self-giving.

At the start of the Vigil of Easter in the Holy Night, the first action is the blessing of the fire, recalling the first creative Word breathed from the Father in which He brought light to the darkness, order to the chaos and meaning to the emptiness of the void of non-being. In his first epistles, St. John writes: “Now this is the message that we have heard from Him and proclaim to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say, ‘We have fellowship with Him,’ while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another and the blood of His Son, Jesus, cleanses us from all sin.” (1: 5- 7) After the fire is blessed and the Paschal Candle consecrated, Christ the Light passes through the darkness, symbolic of His descent among the dead and, one by one, believers are enlightened by their encounter with Christ and emit the light of His grace and experience redemption. Light dispels the darkness, reveals the truth and fills the void. Light allows our eye to see and the brighter the light the clearer our vision becomes. John begins the leitmotif of Light in the prologue of his Gospel, where he writes: “In the beginning was the Word … what came to be through Him was life, and this life was the light of the human race; the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (1: 1, 3-7) The gothic cathedrals that arose during the medieval period of western civilization are acclaimed not only as works of architectural beauty and engineering wonder, but also as showcases for the splendor of stained-glass windows. Practically, they provided a mystical way of allowing the natural light to brighten the typically dark space through the filter of color; but were also a teaching tool relating the stories from the Bible and the lives of Jesus, our Blessed Mother and the Saints, and other important religious teachings. On a broader scale, they represented the mysterious reality of faith in the world through the presence of the Church. An ideal toward which we all strive.

While yesterday, Holy Church focused our attention on this ideal toward which we all strive, in the celebration of All Saints, the Church Triumphant, those of our brothers and sisters who are enjoying the Beatific Vision; today, however, the celebration of All Souls Day forewarns us that each individual, for him/herself, is an intentional cooperator with the Mercy of God in achieving heaven. We need to be concerned that we are not thoughtless and nonintentional in our Catholic faith, presuming upon God’s mercy. One wonders how sincere a person’s love for God is when he or she is so readily willing to sin simply because God is forgiving. God cannot be fooled. He reads hearts and knows our sincerity. To decide to sin is to offend God. To decide to sin because one knows that he/she can be forgiven is to sin twice. It is to use God, reducing Him to a utility at the service of our whim. It is to laugh at His Passion and Death.

Be of good cheer and have a blessed week!

Msgr. Grous