Broken Bonds and the Communion of Saints

Have you ever lost someone special in your life? 

I’m not just talking about death. I’m talking about the sad reality that not all of our friends will stay in our lives. Sometimes, we experience breakups. They often happen without closure, for some people just naturally drift away. Or maybe the other side---despite our best efforts to save the relationship---just does not want to talk anymore. 

Think of families that break apart---suddenly, mother and son just stop talking. Even the best of friends can turn into the coldest of enemies. In a world tainted by pride and original sin, relationships often turn sour and fall apart painfully. We are hurt as our love gets tossed into the trash bin. 

God is love and He does not desire the breakdown of relationships. All of us have sinned and hurt one another---and yet Jesus talked a lot about reconciling with our brother. He even tells us that before we can even worship God, we must leave our gift at the altar and go and reconcile first with our brother (cf. Mt 5: 23-24).

The Gospel is clear about Christ’s demand for unity, and that it is our love for one another that will show the world that we are His disciples (cf. Jn 13:35). But what would happen if, although we want to reconcile and fix the friendship, the other party stubbornly refuses to do so? We may wish to make peace and fix what was broken---but the other may refuse.

Pray for yourself and that person so that you may both be saved. In Heaven, there is no room for hatred nor for broken relations. Heaven is the fullness of reconciliation of every relationship because it is God’s overwhelming love that will reconcile those relationships that were never fixed on earth. There, Christ restores the unity of His wounded body, the Church. 

But to enter into that reality, we don’t necessarily need to die. Even here on earth, we can already enter into the mystery of our reconciliation with our broken relations. We can anticipate it even now at every Mass which is Heaven brought down to earth! For at every Mass, we do not only participate in Christ’s unbloody Sacrifice on the cross, but we also participate and look forward to His Second Coming, where God shall wipe away every tear from our eyes. And there will be no more pain, for everything shall be made new (cf. Rev 21: 4). 

The old things shall pass away, including old quarrels and misunderstandings. The closest friendship that can possibly exist on earth is nothing compared to the love that we shall have for one another in the eternal kingdom of God. Friendships that have grown cold on earth shall be reignited with the most intimate fraternal ardor in Heaven, where we shall embrace each other in mutual forgiveness: for the old ways of sin have passed away, and we shall thus love each other with the passionate love of God. 

In eternity, we will not love God merely in isolation---for He Himself wills that we shall spend eternity loving one another as the best of friends. And although this reconciliation will take place in heaven (if we end up there by God’s grace), we can already enter into that mystery at every Mass. I always imagine the “Peace be with you” as a sign which points to that heavenly reunion where I shall meet the friends that I failed in life, reconciling with them as brothers before God.

So next time at Mass, let us cherish the words: “I believe in the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins… and life everlasting. Amen!” The Mass already transports us into that sacred time: where the future reality of the Table of Reconciliation becomes present in a mystical way known only by faith. 

This is why we must pray for our loved ones, including those who hurt us---and especially those whom we have offended. Let us pray that we shall truly be saved, and that our friendships be restored in heaven. And if---God forbid---a loved one does not make it to Heaven, there would still be no room for grieving: for God will give us brothers and sisters beyond measure, who shall then give us the loving embrace that we never experienced on earth.

Ioannes is a contributing writer for Collegium and he is a student of Sacred Theology. He wishes to keep his identity anonymous.