Prayer

This week we celebrated  All Souls Day and All Saints Day, these significant days in the liturgical calendar call us all to “holiness.” What does it mean to be holy? 

The following reflection by Isabella R Moyer explores the notion of holiness and how it may relate to our work.

Saints are all around us, women and men whose generous spirit reflects the Gospel call to love and serve God and others. Some do it by making the ordinary holy through a spirit of simplicity and humility. Some do it by showing extraordinary courage in sickness and adversity. Some do it by railing against injustice and working to bring equality and dignity to all.

The Gospel reading for All Saints Day invites us into the beatitudes, that wonderful litany of "Blessed are." In the beatitudes, holiness is equated with being poor in spirit, meek, mourning, hungering for righteousness, merciful, and clean of heart.

Interestingly, there is no mention of blessed are the rule-makers, the obedient, the self-righteous or the judgmental. We all know what Jesus thought of those who equated holiness with obsessive discipline and laws. Jesus was about reaching people in their hearts, giving them reasons for hope and joy, and encouraging true and lasting conversion.

We continue to be surrounded by prophets of doom who castigate and blame the women and men of today for succumbing to the evils of secularism and materialism. These pessimistic prophets seem unable to see holiness in the world, or acknowledge that saints are living among us in the messiness of life. Sadly, they see holiness only within the four walls of the church.

Yes, we need a strong and vibrant community where we can pray and be formed, but the church is not meant to keep us in. The church's role is to send us forth. Saints know this. They are women and men whose lives flow seamlessly from prayer to action. We need to hear their stories and be inspired by their witness.

 Isabella R Moyer National Catholic Reporter, November 2, 2012

Let us Pray.

Holy, life-giving Spirit,

infuse in us your ability to remain present to your people.

Help us to be there,

to be right there,

for the people who need us.

There for young people,

there for the elderly,

there for the brokenhearted;

fire our hearts with your life-changing presence.

Even though we know you to be everywhere

and in everything,

give us the ability to be fully in one place at a time,

open and ready to love.

Amen.

We have created a Remembrance tree in our foyer. Let us remember the dearly departed and pray that their souls are eternally at rest.