All Saints Day - Understanding Veneration

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One of my favourite days on the Christian calendar is November 1st - All Saints Day.  Yes, I have many 'favourites', but All Saints Day is a wonderful chance to spend time meditating on that host of holy men and women who have gone before us.  It is a difficult endeavour trying to live a holy life, i.e. one dedicated to loving God and loving neighbour.  As with most things in life, it helps to have mentors - people who can point the way, give advice, and provide example - who can inspire and empower us towards the holy life, towards God.  Scripture presents this concept of saintly 'mentorship' beautifully.  In the Epistle to the Hebrews we read,

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Indeed, we do have a great clouds of witnesses surrounding us.  I often look to one or another of these witnesses for inspiration, for help, for the strength to lay aside that which weighs me down so that I can run the race with my eyes fixed on Jesus.  Veneration of the saints, though it may seem strange to many who are not used to such language, is nothing less than contemplation and worship of Jesus.  That holiness that I see in the saints, that I seek to emulate... that holiness is the radiant beauty of Jesus.  The Christian path is one of becoming Christ-like.  The reality of the incarnation would allow nothing less.  St. Athanasius wrote that "God became man so that man might become God".  The Catechism of The Catholic Church also expresses this idea quite well: "The Word became flesh to make us partakers of the divine nature: For this is why the Word became man, and the Son of God became the Son of man: so that man, by entering into communion with the Word and thus receiving divine sonship, might become a son of God."

When I see the Divine light shining in others, I see nothing less than Jesus Himself growing in them.  To do anything other than venerate this light, i.e. to recognize and honour this holiness, would be a failure to love and worship God.  Thanks be to God that we need not walk this path alone.  We have brothers and sisters to encourage, to teach, and to inspire.  This is why I love All Saints Day: I'm reminded that I'm in good company... I'm reminded that I'm not alone on this difficult journey.  Together with the saints who have come before we walk towards the light that is our healing, our salvation - with their assistance we walk the road of love towards Him who is love incarnate.

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