Eucharist unites saints, pilgrims, pope says on All
Saints Day
11/1/2005
ATICAN CITY (AsiaNews) Holiness is a new life bestowed in
baptism, which is not subject to the corruption or power of
death, Pope Benedict XVI told pilgrims gathered today in St.
Peters Square on the occasion of the feast of All Saints.
The communion of saints is the profound unity among those who see
God as he is and those who are pilgrims in the world.
The Eucharist, said the pope, is the moment in which are all truly
united, the living and the dead, saints and pilgrims.
The pope reminded those gathered of the importance of traditional
devotions to commemorate the dead, including visiting cemeteries
and offering masses for them.
Tomorrow, the pope himself will go the Grotte Vaticane to pause a
while before the tombs of the popes, with a special thought for
the beloved John Paul II.
The following are the words of the pope in the lead-up to the
Marian prayer:
Dear brothers and sisters!
Today we celebrate the feast of All Saints, which allows us to
savor the joy of being part of the large family of Gods friends
or, as St Paul wrote, to share in the inheritance of the saints in
the light (Col 1:12).
The liturgy puts forward the expression filled with wonder of the
apostle John: What love the father has given us that we should be
called children of God; and that is what we are! (1 Jn 3:1). Yes,
becoming saints means the full realization of what we already are
in that we have been raised, in Jesus Christ, to the dignity of
adoptive children of God (Eph 1:5; Rm 8:14-17).
With the Sons incarnation, death and resurrection, God wanted to
reconcile humanity to himself and to open it to share his own life.
Whoever believes in Christ, son of God, is born again from above,
it is as if he is regenerated by the work of the Holy Spirit (Jn
3:1-8 ). This mystery is implemented in the sacrament of baptism,
through which the mother Church brings saints to light.
The new life received in baptism is not subject to the corruption
and power of death. For those who live in Christ, death is the
passage from an earthly pilgrimage to the homeland of heaven, where
the father welcomes all his children of every nation, race, people
and language as we read today in the Book of Revelation
(7:9).
This is why it is very meaningful and appropriate that after the
feast of All Saints, all the faithful who have died are
commemorated tomorrow. The communion of saints which we profess
in the creed, is a reality which is built down here, but which will
be manifested fully when we see God as he is (1 Jn 3:2). It is
the reality of a family tied by profound links of spiritual
solidarity, which unite the faithful who have died to those who are
pilgrims in the world. A bond which is mysterious but real, fed by
prayer and by participation in the sacrament of the
Eucharist.
The souls of the faithful meet in the mystical body of Christ,
overcoming the barrier of death, praying for each other, realizing
in charity an intimate exchange of gifts. Through this dimension of
faith may be understood also the practice of offering prayers of
suffrage for the deceased, especially the eucharistic sacrifice, a
memorial of the Easter of Christ, who opened the road to eternal
life for believers.
Uniting myself spiritually with those going to cemeteries to pray
for their deceased ones, I too will go tomorrow afternoon to pray
in the Grotte Vaticane at the tombs of the popes, which crown the
sepulchre of the apostle Peter, and my thoughts will be especially
for the beloved John Paul II.
Dear friends, the tradition of these days of visiting the tombs of
our deceased ones is an occasion to think about the mystery of
death without fear, and to cultivate that incessant watchfulness
which allows us to face it serenely. The Virgin Mary, the queen of
saints who we turn to now with filial confidence, will help us in
this.