We are never alone in our efforts to seek God and salvation. As Catholics, we know that we are in communion with each other and every person who ever lived – alive today in heaven with the angels. We are the Church, in fellowship and spiritual solidarity here on earth and in heaven. Collectively, we are the communion of saints.

The communion of saints is headed by Jesus with 3 states of the Church:

• Church Militant – that is us.
• Church Suffering – those in purgatory (a/k/a Church Penitent or Church Expectant.
• Church Triumphant – those in heaven.

Communion in charity. In the sanctorum communio, “None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.” “If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” “Charity does not insist on its own way.” In this solidarity with all men, living or dead, which is founded on the communion of saints, the least of our acts done in charity redounds to the profit of all. Every sin harms this communion.

953 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church

All people are created by God at their conception, not at birth nor at any time prior. There is no such thing as an “old soul” or “reincarnation.” We have one life here on earth but will exist eternally – either alive in heaven or dead in hell. We do not go to sleep when we die. The souls in heaven are temporarily separated from their bodies (until Jesus comes again), but cheer us on and pray for us. They are all saints, those we have formally recognized in heaven (canonized Saints) and a multitude or others.

One place all members of the communion of saints join together is at Mass. Heaven and earth are joined in the presence of Our Lord. In the Eucharist, we are joined with Jesus and through Him, with each other. Through the Eucharist we grow in communion of the Holy Spirit and reflect Him to the outside world.

Angels and saints are with us at other times too. Kathleen Beckman recounted this beautiful story recently in a Catholic Exchange piece:

I recall the special graces associated with the passing of an aunt. She was married but her husband preceded her into eternal life. She did not have children because she was always the caregiver of extended family. She was in the process of dying a natural death in the warmth of the family home. It was not necessary that she be hooked up to machines; no intravenous drips of morphine or any other painkiller was needed. We sat around her bed and conversed with her as she went in and out of consciousness. Suddenly she said, “The room is filled with them. There is hardly enough room for all of them. Don’t you see them? Angels are all over this room.” I believed her because she was credible and the existence of angels is part of Catholic doctrine. She continued, “Oh, John (her deceased husband) is here. He is extending his hand to me. There are other family members too. I see them.” Then, speaking first person to her deceased husband she said, “Oh John, I want to go, but I will miss all these people. I am not quite ready please.” This no nonsense woman of faith was utterly believable. It seemed the natural order of things for a good woman who served others selflessly all of her life. We told her that we would miss her but we would be together again; it would be alright if she went to meet the Lord and her husband. The next day, with her face illumined, she looked up as if acknowledging the presence of someone we could not see and then she closed her eyes and peacefully breathed her last.

We can and do pray directly to God, for ourselves and each other. We also ask our brothers and sisters here in the Church Militant to pray for us. We especially ask those in the fullness of God’s presence, the saints of the Church Triumphant to pray for us as well.

The Catechism summarizes quite eloquently:

The three states of the Church. “When the Lord comes in glory, and all his angels with him, death will be no more and all things will be subject to him. But at the present time some of his disciples are pilgrims on earth. Others have died and are being purified, while still others are in glory, contemplating ‘in full light, God himself triune and one, exactly as he is”‘:

All of us, however, in varying degrees and in different ways share in the same charity towards God and our neighbors, and we all sing the one hymn of glory to our God. All, indeed, who are of Christ and who have his Spirit form one Church and in Christ cleave together.

954 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church

While researching a piece on the Communion of Saints, I mentally struggled not with the details, but with an overall framework in which to place it. There are so many related topics, indeed our entire Catholic faith, that it is easy to get sidetracked. Always a fan of analogies as vehicles (pun intended) for teaching concepts, a somewhat “fun” one occurred to me. I call it the road trip of life.

Humor me and for the moment and consider your life as a road trip. You are the driver of a car (the Church) that can easily “go the distance.” The destination is heaven but every journey will be unique. The car is not a remotely controlled vehicle, but may be freely driven by you in any direction you wish. Your trip had a starting point and will end at a specific time unknown to you.

Your car is a really fine vehicle (Catholic) with everything you need for a successful trip. It has an excellent owner’s manual (the Holy Bible), but trained mechanics (the Magisterium) are needed to fully understand (interpret) it. Even so, the owner’s manual does not contain everything knowable about the car. The mechanics have the complete picture (Sacred Tradition) from their training. Fortunately, your car comes with full service.

The car is propelled by a powerful engine (the sacraments) with an inexhaustible supply of fuel (grace). To insure that you do not get lost, it has the latest GPS navigation system (the Holy Spirit) available for your use. There are some nice additional features that can be used as needed, such as the (holy) water of the windshield washer.

At times during this trip you may have some additional passengers. They are on their own trips, but might ride part of the way with you. Sitting next to you at some point might be a spouse with whom you take turns driving. A little further down the road there may be some young passengers in the back seat.

There are a lot of other cars on the road. Some are going the same direction you are. Some are stopped or worse, going in the opposite direction. Many drivers are just lost and you try to help if you can. The goal is to get everyone to the destination while they still have time.

As you look around, you notice that not all the cars are the same as yours. None are better, but many are less capable. Some were once just like yours, but have been modified by their driver resulting in degraded performance. They may still reach the destination, but the trip will be more difficult. Usually their drivers think they have made the car “better” and are oblivious to its impaired safety systems and slower speed.

Some of the other cars are derivatives from an earlier model year (often about 500 years ago) and suffer from extensive modifications over the centuries. They too can reach the destination, but their incomplete cars hamper the trip.

Finally, some vehicles on the road are not even cars (through no fault of their drivers), but the resolve of their operators is so strong that they too may reach the destination.

Your top-of-the-line car performs well, passing many of the lesser vehicles. That is alright as long as they are headed toward the destination. You always give your fellow travelers a “thumbs-up” and encourage them along the way regardless of how they choose to make the trip. Hopefully they will upgrade to your model (available free of charge) to improve their journey and likelihood of success.

While the road is often smooth and straight, sometimes curves unexpectedly appear and some areas can be quite rough. In those times you particularly appreciate the fine engineering of your car. Sure, it isn’t perfect, but it is guaranteed for life when properly operated.

The one sad thing is seeing stopped cars or those going the wrong way. Some are even the same fine model you are driving. Those drivers had the greatest opportunity to reach the destination yet chose another path. We can only hope that they come to their senses and turn around.

When the journey is over, some will be able to immediately enjoy the wonderful amenities available at the destination. Many of us will need to first freshen-up and recover from the ride. Either way, it is worth the trip and all who have made it are cheering for those of us still on the road!