The Saints: our friends and supporters

When you are playing in an away match against another school or club – it might be hockey or football – it’s a great encouragement if you have a crowd of supporters on the touch-line to cheer you on.  Indeed, if the sides were pretty even, it might make all the difference between victory and defeat.

Now, although our life at the moment is lived here on this earth, our true home is in Heaven.  So we can think of this life as a kind of away match against the temptations of the world, the flesh and the Devil.  And we have our crowd of supporters from our true home to cheer us on and keep us going – I mean the Blessed Saints (cf Hebrews 12:1-2, 22-24; Philippians 3:20).

We must always remember that Heaven is not far away.  Heaven is where God is seen (the Beatific Vision) and so, if we could see God now, this building would be Heaven.  If you went in a space ship into the outer regions of the Universe, you would be no nearer to God and no farther from him, and so you would also be no nearer to and no farther from Heaven.  Heaven is another life which exists quite near us but on a different level, and therefore the Saints are not far away. And they can help us by praying to God for us.