On my first visit to Rome, I rushed to see St. Peter’s. It was a church I had drawn when I was in third grade after I read This is Rome by Miroslav Šašek. Of all the pictures in that children’s book, it was St. Peter’s and its dome that captured my imagination when I was eight years old.
It was 20 years later that I stood in front of the church in awe. The grandeur and beauty of the church impressed me. But as my eyes moved upward to the dome, something else caught my attention. I saw movement around the dome so that it looked to me like a crown with dazzling jewels around it. I soon realized those jewels were people who had climbed to the top to take in the views of Rome. They were walking around and waving their arms: doing what tourists do. If I had been up there with them, I probably wouldn’t have even noticed them all that much. I would have looked outward at the view of the city of Rome. But from the ground looking up, I saw all these people as if they were gems in a royal crown.
That experience has stayed with me. I can be distracted by beautiful architecture and art and forget to notice all the people around me—these people who are the real jewels in our lives—both those people we know and the people who are strangers. I never knowingly met any of those people up on the dome that day, but they stood out to me as jewels…precious strangers.
All Soul’s Day is a favorite day of mine precisely because the liturgies and prayers of this day remind me to be grateful for all the souls around me, both living and dead. Our lives are full of beauty to be sure. And that beauty is made all the more poignant by the people around us when we stop and appreciate the value of each soul around us.
Today, All Souls Day, consider all the people who have entered your life in both brief and extended ways. This includes family, friends, and even strangers. How is your life made richer by each one of these people? How has your faith been affected by family, by friends? How have strangers deepened your faith?
