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On this All Saints day in the year 1541, Michaelangelo‘s Last Judgement was unveiled on the rear wall of the Sistine Chapel.

There was no coincidence in the date: the feast of All Saints was a most appropriate day to dedicate this masterpiece of world art – Michaelangelo’s ceiling tells the story of our salvation history: the encounter of the ultimate plan of God, and human history.

The rear wall looks forward to the future eternal reality, to those souls who have embraced eternal life and love with God, and those who have rejected the eternal fulness of life.

In these earthly years we experience joy, hope, grief and anxiety. In every moment we are offered saving intimacy with God. The deepest desire of the human person is not to be free of grief and anxiety. Instead our deepest longing is ‘to know, love and to serve God, and to be happy with him forever.’

And death is the moment of transition from this earthly road, into the eternal realm.

Our human purpose is found when we appreciate our desire for God above all else. When we rest with this desire, especially in the midst of struggle and suffering, we experience God’s presence and peace.

This life is the life of the saint.