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As we approach the great feast of All Saints I am reminded of the Charles II bridge in Prague. When it was first built it was simply a bridge, a big bridge but just a bridge. However over centuries it has undergone an extraordinary transformation. First it was one, and then another and now fifty line the sides of this bridge and catch the eye of all crossing the river. They come from different times and places and represent the devotion of different people and have inspired many others. They are: statues of the saints. To me there is something deeply symbolic about this image because the saints are there to help us on our journey through life.
To show us the way; to show us that Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life and that following Him has made ordinary people lead extraordinary lives. Each one of us has our own bridge, our own way through life. What or who are we going to line it with to inspire us and to guide us? Who do we know or know of who has lived the Gospel in such a way that it has given them the fullness of life promised to us all by Christ. And could we allow our lives to be transformed in such a way that ordinary though we may be we will live extraordinary lives and help others on their pilgrimage through life?
The feast of All Saints is a feast for us and a reminder that saints come from all different backgrounds. There will be one out there somewhere just like you and one out there just like me. What made them saints was the way they followed Christ inspired by the saints who had gone before them as they crossed their bridge through life. And we can do the same!
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Holy Saviour RC Church - Nelson