At the beginning of November, we acknowledge two significant days in our Church calendar, both All Saints Day and All Souls Day. These are days when we are able to remember those who have gone before us. 

There is a wonderful saying, “Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.” This succinctly reminds us of our common humanity. We would be misguided to think that the Saints all lived idyllic lives infused with constant prayer and commitment. Saints are those who have fallen down but continue to get up. They came to deeply trust in God often through a lifetime of challenges and turmoil. 

A few years ago Fr Richard Leonard SJ spoke to our Diocese about the importance and value of reclaiming the stories of our Saints. As we come to know some of their stories of struggle, anxiety, doubt, fears and fumbling we begin to see that their stories are not far from our own. Their example however can provide us with much needed guidance, inspiration, courage or hope and we call on this as we pray to them. 

All Saints Day is also about taking some time to acknowledge the many “anonymous saints” in our lives. These are the people who touched our lives but their story did not receive the same profile as other Saints. They are the people of hope, in spite of what happened. They seemed to be able to connect into the love of God and the joy of God, even in the messiness of life. Whilst they were here on earth, their story and authenticity gave us strength and comfort and as we pray to them, we can continue to draw on this. 

On All Souls Day, we reconnect with our loved ones who have died. We keep the “faithful departed” in our memory and ask them to keep us in their sight, as they come to see God. Ronald Rolheiser commented, “We and they can still feel each other, know each other, love each other, console each other, and influence each other. Our lives are still joined. Hence we pray for the dead in order to remain in contact with them.”

Whilst we would love things to be different when someone dies, there can be feelings of regret or deep sadness due to things that have not been said or resolved. Rolheiser compassionately expresses that, “To believe in the communion of saints is to believe that we can still tend to unfinished business in our relationships, even after death. We can still talk to those who have died and we can, even now, say the words of love, forgiveness, gratitude, and regret.” 

So as we reflect on All Saints Day we are invited to join the Communion of Saints and to reconnect with those well known and unknown saints who inspire or guide us. And on All Souls Day we have an opportunity to reach out yet again to those who have gone before us and to experience the healing and growth we so long for.