One of the most beautiful lines we say every Sunday in the Nicene Creed is this:

“I believe in the communion of saints.”

But what does that actually mean?

It means that the Church is bigger than what we see.

Christianity has never been just the people in this room… or just the people alive today.

The Church stretches across time and eternity.

It includes the faithful on earth, the souls being purified, and the saints already in heaven with God.

This is what we call the Communion of Saints.

It is one family.

From the very beginning, Christianity was lived this way.

When the early Christians gathered for the Mass, they believed heaven and earth were united.

They believed they were worshiping with the angels and the saints.

This belief goes all the way back to the earliest days of the Church.

In fact, many early Christians celebrated Mass in the catacombs—underground burial places—often directly above the tombs of martyrs.

Why?

Because they believed those martyrs were not gone.

They were alive in Christ.

The Church had not lost them.

They had simply gone ahead.

Think about that for a moment.

When a Christian dies in Christ, death does not break the family of God.

It strengthens it.

Those who have gone before us are now closer to God than we are.

They see Him face to face.

And because they love us, they pray for us.

This is why Christians have asked the saints for prayers for nearly 2,000 years.

Not because they replace God…

but because they are part of the family.

Just like you might ask a friend to pray for you.

And throughout history, certain members of this family have shined in extraordinary ways.

Men and women who followed Christ with courage, faith, and radical love.

People like

St. Peter the Apostle,

St. Paul the Apostle,

St. Augustine of Hippo,

St. Francis of Assisi,

and St. Thérèse of Lisieux.

They lived in different centuries.

Different countries.

Different cultures.

Yet they were all transformed by the same thing:

Jesus Christ.

The saints are not superheroes.

They were human.

They struggled.

Some doubted.

Some failed.

Some started far from God.

But they said yes to Him.

And over time, His grace changed them.

The saints are proof that holiness is possible.

And here’s the most important part:

The Communion of Saints is not just about the past.

It includes us.

Every baptized Christian is called to holiness.

The saints are not a special class of Christians.

They are what Christianity is supposed to produce.

Which means the story of the saints is still being written.

Right now.

In this generation.

Maybe even in this room.

The saints are not distant figures in stained glass.

They are older brothers and sisters in the faith.

They cheer us on.

They pray for us.

And they remind us that following Christ is worth everything.

Because they reached the destination.

They are home.

And they want us to get there too.