Opening Prayer
Gracious God, isn’t it wonderful that You have so many good and faithful friends! I wonder if heaven is crowded. Is it like a wonderful, high – energy reunion? With You in the middle, enjoying everyone and everything? So many of Your friends, like St. Therese, have been officially recognized by the Church. So many others are recognized simply by those who loved, knew and were touched by them. This great ingathering of all Your friends must be awesome and surprising. You gather and embrace them, no matter what they called You beforehand. I also believe that they are right next to us now, unseen but experienced through a thin veil. They belong to You, Friend of all, but they are present to us in the Communion of Saints. Thank you for so generously sharing Your promised fullness with those who lived and believed in the Beatitudes. Help me to be like them, in seeking, not power, prestige, and privilege, but rather peace, humility, purity, mercy, and justice. I rejoice with Your Saints. They know You! They inherit what is beyond my imagination and human dreams! The smile on Your face must be awesome as You enjoy them all!
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