Look Back, Look Forward...But...

Today we look back and look forward. It'll be a hefty dose to swallow as we gear up for work. Oh, and we're taking a break from our series of posts about work, as taught by Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski.

Our look-back focuses on the two previous days: All Saints Day and All Souls Day. These are now past. Did they pass unnoticed or did we pause in our busy lives to celebrate and observe?

All Saints was more a celebration. It focuses our hearts and minds on that part of the Body of Christ now in Heaven. We traditionally refer to these as the Church Triumphant. They fought the good fight, and, with God's grace, prevailed over the world, the flesh and the devil. Now they live in eternal happiness with God in Heaven. 

Most of us likely have loved ones who are no longer with us and whom we hope have joined those in Heaven. While we do not want to be presumptuous, we do hope that they are now saints - that is, in Heaven with God.

If we spent, or now spend, a bit of time thinking about the saints, about Heaven, there was and is much cause for joy and celebration. Is there anything more wonderful, more glorious, than this?

Of course, Heaven remains a mystery in many ways. What exactly is it? Spiritual writers have given us words to help us get a bit of a picture here. But we'll not know exact details, or have a crystal clear image until that happy day when we ourselves arrive there.

By the grace of God, would it be so!

Still, even without that crystal clarity, we can meditate on Heaven. After all, it's one of the "Four Last Things" that Holy Mother Church has taught us - for centuries - to meditate upon. (Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell). All Saints Day and the days surrounding can provide us with a reminder to do this. All we have to do is to make time. 

If All Saints Day has passed without any thought of Heaven and the Saints who now live there, consider making time now. If not now, then when?

If it helps, perhaps we can more easily imagine, or connect with, some picture of Heaven through our loved ones who have passed from this earth. After all, we are taught that we will be re-united with them in a state of eternal happiness. Isn't that an awesome thought. Doesn't it make you want to take some time to meditate on this?

We can do this even as we attend to our daily work today - a few minutes here and there at the very least. 

Then there's All Souls Day. It followed All Saints. While we may not think of "celebrating" All Souls as much as celebrating All Saints, we can settle on "observing." It was a day to, again, meditate on another part of the Body of Christ - those who have died and who may not yet be in Heaven. We traditionally refer to these as the Church Suffering - the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

While All Souls Day is set aside as a special day to remember these Holy Souls, they should be in our thoughts and prayers every day. And if they aren't or haven't been, then today's the day to begin to develop the habit of prayer and sacrifice for the sake of the Holy Souls.

Again, we may think of our loved ones who upon leaving us may not have been "ready" for Heaven yet. Of course, these days, the unfortunate practice of canonizing everyone who dies immediately upon death has deflected many of us from the practice of praying for the Holy Souls.

What a great misfortune!

Remember that these souls now undergo a process of "purification." And that entails suffering. If we've been spiritually twisted by the "everyone goes right to Heaven" cult, we might simply consider our own lives. If we died right now, would we be without stain of sin, our souls washed clean of any sins? More so, have we made sufficient reparation for the sins we have committed from the day we became aware of and responsible for out actions in God's Eyes? If so, we are indeed saints in every way but being in Heaven. If not, well, then we might better understand why and how Purgatory serves as a place to get us in shape for eternal happiness.

Even at work today, don't neglect the Holy Souls! And let's not neglect our own souls, as well.

A lot to swallow, perhaps, on what for most of us will be just another normal work day. But remember, we here on earth are that third part of the Body of Christ we call the Church Militant. We are in the thick of the sometimes daunting struggle to resist the allure of the world, the flesh and the devil. And in our daily struggle, one which we take to work with us each day, we might unite ourselves with our brothers and sisters of the Church Triumphant and the Church Suffering. We can and should pray for each other always.

So much for today's effort to look back. Next time we look forward.

And, oh right, we'll address that "But" as well.