Leaning Into the Communion of Saints

I have been blessed with a wonderful family of siblings.  There are six of us -- 2 attorneys, 1 dentist, 2 teachers, and a social worker/landscaper.  All of us love the outdoors, animals, and growing things.  None of us spends much time communicating with the others on a regular basis, but still, we "lean into" one another in some indefinable way.  My mother used to say that we could have our own self-sufficient commune and survive very well.  Add in the next 2 generations, and we probably have all we need for survival in fact.  We know for sure that we have one another's backs and unwavering support at all times.

The deeper I grow in my faith, I realize that the Catholic doctrine of the Communion of Saints is much like my family.  In fact, I was once challenged by a neighbor who clearly thought "praying to the saints" was idolatry, and I actually felt sorry for her, that she could not experience the same kind of support I experience from my friends, the saints.  Not all the "saints" are formally canonized; I have had friends whose lives were closely intertwined with mine and who have now passed to the other side.  I still consider them friends and now saints who still support me in spirit.  St. Therese said before her death, "I will spend my heaven doing good upon earth."  What a lovely way to think about those who have gone before us --- that they are spending their heaven doing good upon earth!

Why should those who have spent their lives passionately loving others cease to care about those they love when they die?  If we on earth, limited as we are, can support one another in spiritual ways, why not those who have more resources now without limitation?  Recently our deacon went to the hospital experiencing a lot of pain.  Of course, word went out immediately that he needed prayer.  Later he told me that while he was in the emergency room, he suddenly began to feel the effects of all that prayer.  I believe that even my Baptist neighbors who scorn the Communion of Saints doctrine would whole-heartedly embrace the belief that our deacon did indeed experience the support of prayer -- the more people praying, the greater the spiritual force.

I like the picture of heaven painted in Hebrews 12:22:  You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom, and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words, so that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded....But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God.  You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.  You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.....(Chap. 13)...Keep on loving each other as brothers...Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

The picture of the church is one of family of one blood, of one holy DNA, loving and supporting one another because of the one spirit that enfolds them -- the Spirit of Jesus Christ.  Why should death cease the love and support that binds them?  If anything, I would think the spiritual bonds would increase.  And the passion we experience for others, for the earth, for animals and growing things should not diminish with death; we have spent a lifetime cultivating these passions.  Is that formation to be entirely lost upon our deaths?

I draw so much strength and inspiration and support from my family and from my friends, both living and dead.  So I lean into the Communion of Saints, whether they exist in heaven or on earth.