It was nearly 20 years ago that Capuchin Brother Jack Rathschmidt came to celebrate Mass at Mount Alvernia High School for the Feast of All Saints and delivered a homily that has held space in my memory ever since. It is no surprise that the focus of his reflection was the communion of saints. I had spent my life celebrating this feast day annually and knowing superficially what it was all about. But on that day, through the power of imagination, Brother Jack offered me a visual that forever changed how and when I think about the communion of saints.

Brother Jack asked us to imagine a football stadium teeming with fans in the stands cheering. He then asked each of us to imagine ourselves running down the field, knowing that the cheers were encouraging our progress. We were invited to realize the emotional impact that support would have on us as we moved forward, running hard, breathing heavy, maybe avoiding obstacles that would slow our momentum. The exhilaration of the fans energized us and made it possible to move forward, to not stop.

As we stepped back from that exercise in imagination, Brother Jack asked us to imagine who those fans might be. He encouraged us to think of those supportive fans as the communion of saints. Asking the students to identify who some of those might be, I heard indicators of who our students were as they responded. "Our Lady of Guadalupe," one student shouted out. "Dorothy Day," came a voice from another corner of the chapel. St. Theresa, St. Clare, St. Francis, and St. Ignatius joined the chorus. It was then that Brother Jack invited the students to remember that not only those venerable, holy people account for the communion of saints but included among those whom we all know by name and deed were our own "small s" saints -- our grandmothers, grandfathers, neighbors, any person of faith who cared for us and had passed, now belonged to our communion of saints.

We then returned to the football field and the cheering fans and their impact on our progress. He reminded us that, as Catholics, we know that nothing we do, nothing we accomplish is done without the loving support of the communion of saints. Now in our mind's eye, we were invited to imagine a beloved grandmother who had passed away beside a revered saint to whom we prayed for intercession, both of whom were rooting for us to make progress, to move swiftly down the field, to persevere.

To be honest, prior to this exercise, beyond the weekly mention in the Apostles' Creed at Sunday Mass, I don't think that I gave too much thought to the communion of saints. I am so grateful to Brother Jack because I cannot tell you how frequently the image of those whom I have loved and loved me standing shoulder to shoulder with saints to whom I have devotion now come to mind. When I pray, I imagine them together united in their loving support of my progress.

That morning's homily led to quite a few conversations with teachers and students at Mount Alvernia High School. We began to ask others, "Who is cheering you on?" and those in the community knew that the question was indeed asking "Who is in your communion of saints?" I ask each of you to imagine what Brother Jack invited our community to imagine that November morning and ask yourselves, "Who is cheering you on at this moment in your life?" "Who is encouraging you as you make progress in your spiritual life?" "Who is in your communion of saints?"



Eileen McLaughlin is superintendent of Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Boston.



- Eileen McLaughlin is superintendent of Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Boston.