Pastor's Spiritual Reflections

By Fr. Leo Schneider (11/11/2007)

Dear People of Holy Name,

In this month when we remember our deceased, it is a welcome reminder to hear that God is the God of the living and not of the dead, for to him all are alive, even those who have gone before us marked by the sign of faith. Starting the month out with All Saints Day and All Souls, reminds us that in Jesus we are all one, gathered around the timeless altar of God’s presence. The reason we can celebrate with solemnity the death of those we love, is because for us the resurrection of Jesus is real. With death turned into a door to new life, our need for prolonged sadness dissipates.

Celebrating the Saints and the genuine miracles attributed to their intersession lessens the distance between the living and the dead, and makes our unity in Christ tangible. Contemplating the different apparitions of Mary also shows the continued presence and concern God has for his people in all of their needs. Then there are also people like George Strange and John Edwards with clairvoyant gifts in communicating with the “other side.” Their message always the same, our loved ones are ok and that we don’t need to morn for their loss, but only our own.

The resurrection becomes more real to us when we have had to bury those closest to us. The 9th and 12th of this month mark the death of my father and my mother. Though it has been many years since their passing I still think of them every day, pray for them and ask them to continue to help me. I will always miss them because of the great love we shared while they were on this side of life, but I am still with them and they are still with me. Taking time to remember them and pray for them makes this reality real in my life as it will for any person of faith.

Though this is a uniquely Catholic tradition it finds a place in the hearts of all believers. Many years ago I was present for a discussion between Cardinal Dulles and a leading theologian of the Lutheran Church on the topic of Saints and praying for and to the dead. During the discussion a Lutheran man in the room shared that though he was Lutheran, he prayed to his deceased mother every day and that to him it was a valid and real spiritual communication. The Lutheran theologian spoke about what we could believe in with surety. He would quote Martin Luther, as we might reference the pope, as basis for his view. But when I pointed out that our only surety was the Spirit of Jesus Christ, he agreed and spoke of the place for individual devotion and belief in his own tradition.

When we have lived through the death of someone we love our understanding of the resurrection grows. In the process death loses its power and we live with a part of us already on the other side of life in the ones we love. Our own day will come when we cross over to the other side. Living with our deceased in prayer prepares us for that day and helps us embrace it as a homecoming to be celebrated. Believing in the Communion of Saints is a gift that comes with faith, born out of our experience of life and death in this life.

This month we pray for our deceased in a spirit of sacred remembrance, for to remember them is to make them present and makes present the God who makes us one. As nature becomes peaceful and it prepares for winter, we become peaceful, knowing we are one with those we love and that nothing can or will every separate us from them, neither death nor any power or principality. Let us pray for and to our beloved, who have joined the Lord that we may be united with them in heart and mind this day, and come to anticipate that great day when we will join them forever in the unmediated presence of our God.

Eternal rest grant upon them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them!

In Christ’s peace, Fr. Leo