Good News Reflection
Wednesday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time
November 1, 2006
Which Saints are your special friends?


Today's Solemnity: All Saints Day
http://wordbytes.org/saints/DailyPrayers/AllSaints.htm

Today's Readings:
Rev 7:2-4, 9-14
Ps 24:1-6
1 John 3:1-3
Matt 5:1-12a
http://www.usccb.org/nab/110106.shtml

Reflection: Which Saints are your special friends?

There's a story of an overweight man who was so obtuse, he couldn't mount his horse. While struggling, he prayed, "All you saints of heaven, help me!" He then leaped up onto the horse, flew over the saddle and tumbled down the opposite side. "All right," he said, "only half of you help me this time!"

Growing up Protestant, I didn't understand why the Catholic Church would make such a big deal out of declaring that some dead people were Saints and that we should honor them, have statues of them, and pray to them. Actually, theologically, Catholics don't pray "to" any Saint (not even to the Blessed Mother of Jesus), but we do ask them to pray WITH us and FOR us (as in the Hail Mary: "pray for us sinners...").

Since we ask our friends here on earth to pray with us and for us, how much better it is to have friends in heaven! Canonization of a Saint is the Church's official assurance that here is a person who's made it to heaven. The canonization process determines this through extremely careful scrutiny and investigation and undeniable proof of miracles. Even before they're "beatified" (i.e., deemed worthy of the title "Blessed") their power to pray for us must be proven by a major after-death miracle.

Today's first reading depicts the communion of saints. All friends of Jesus share in this communion. Any friend of Jesus is your friend, especially those who live in perfect love because now they're in heaven. St. Teresa of Avila said, "Those who love you for his sake... will never desert you," ("The Way of Perfection", Chap. IX, 3). However, to feel their friendship and become aware of their love and their caring support, we must first develop an intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit, for it is in God's Spirit that our relationships with the Saints exist.

Someone once asked me to identify a Saint to match the name that her granddaughter had already chosen for her Sacrament of Confirmation. Thank God there was no such name in the list of canonized Saints, because she had missed the point entirely! I advised her to tell her granddaughter to read about various Saints and pick one that she'd like to have as a personal friend.

Which Saints are your special friends? Develop (or improve) your connection to them. Read about them. Read their own words in books or search for information about them on the internet. Ask Jesus to introduce them to you. Through the Holy Spirit, tell them what's going on in your life and what extra help you need in your spiritual growth.

Even if you're not aware of what the Saints in heaven are doing on your behalf, know that they ARE doing something. They are especially interested in helping you grow in holiness.

(Perhaps my book, "Daily Prayers with the Saints", will aid you in this. See http://gnm.org/books.htm.)


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© 2006 by Terry A. Modica
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