Developing a sense of communion

WITH the celebration of the Solemnity of All Saints and the Commemoration of All Souls, we should be reminded of that beautiful, if very overwhelming, reality that all of us, from Adam to the last man still to be born, are meant to live in communion with God and with one another.

It is a communion of heart and mind, of spirit, marked by love and truth that can only originate and be maintained in God through Christ in the Holy Spirit. The dimensions of this communion go beyond space and time, beyond the material. They go into the spiritual and supernatural.

This is what is called the communion of saints, since as God’s creatures, made in his image and likeness, all of us are meant to form one people, one body with one soul in Christ who, as the Son of God and perfect image that God has of himself, is the pattern of our humanity, and as the Son of God who became man to redeem us from our sins, is the savior of our damaged humanity.

In short, it is God through Christ in the Holy Spirit who is the source and maintainer of this communion. This communion of saints involves all humanity—those who are already in heaven, those still on earth and those still purifying themselves in purgatory. There is a certain God-given dynamic of interconnectivity and sharing among all the members of this communion.

It is important that we are aware of this truth of our faith so that we can both enjoy the rights and privileges of such communion, and fulfill the duties that fall on us to keep that communion going.

Yes, with the keen awareness of this communion, we are assured of God’s love and mercy for us. And so, we really have no reason to worry so much about anything. We just have to try our best to do our part of deserving what God wants us to be.

Among the many implications of this truth of our faith is that we ought to broaden our attitude to things to include, first of the all, the spiritual and supernatural dimensions of our life and in our relations with others.

We need, for example, to know more about the saints through whose intercession we can ask favors from God. This is not to mention that they can truly edify us and help us in our own sanctification with their example. They lived certain aspects of Christian life to a heroic degree. They deserve to be emulated, especially when their particular spirituality or charism fits more with our personal circumstances.

Then, we have to exert effort to relate ourselves with everybody else in this life. While we have our own limitations, we should always try to be open to the possibility of knowing more and more people and in an increasingly better way.

We have to remember that we should not only rely on our own powers, but should first of all seek God’s grace whose effectiveness knows no limits. With God’s grace, what is impossible to us becomes possible.

Besides, precisely because of this communion of saints, whatever good we do, no matter how small and hidden, will always redound to the good of all. This realization should make us generous in doing good all the time. We don’t have to wait for some extraordinary situations to do good. The ordinary tasks of the day, done with love, can already generate a lot of good for everyone.

We should also keep in mind the souls in purgatory. They are our brothers and sisters. Their death has not separated them from us. And they are in need of great help which we can readily give if we would just make the effort to pray and offer sacrifices for them.

May we develop a keen sense of communion!