On this
All Saints’ Day (officially the Solemnity of All Saints) we might consider an
excerpt that Pope Benedict XVI presented in a general audience 2010:
“There are very dear people in
the life of each one of us to whom we feel particularly close, some of whom are
already in God's embrace while others still share with us the journey through
life: they are our parents, relatives and teachers; they are the people to whom
we have done good or from whom we have received good; they are people on whom we
know we can count. Yet it is important also to have "travelling companions" on
the journey of our Christian life. I am thinking of a Spiritual Director, a
Confessor, of people with whom it is possible to share one's own faith
experience, but I am also thinking of the Virgin Mary and the Saints. Everyone
must have some Saint with whom he or she is on familiar terms, to feel close to
with prayer and intercession but also to emulate. I would therefore like to ask
you to become better acquainted with the Saints, starting with those you are
called after, by reading their life and their writings. You may rest assured
that they will become good guides in order to love the Lord even more and will
contribute effective help for your human and Christian development...”
(http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20100825_en.html#)
Fr.
Robert Barron’s sermon for this Holy Day of Obligation addresses, in part, “the
panoply of saints, both those who are similar to us and those who bring out the
parts of us that are 'in shadow.' He speaks of how making those complementary
saints our friends can help sanctify this shadow
side." Listen to the sermon
here.
(Fr. Barron is the author of
Catholicism: A Journey to the Heart of the Faith (2011) and the
outstanding video series (2012).)
Is Venerable Matt Talbot one of your traveling companions?
.
