St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Springerville recently shared a note on the solemnity of All Saints Day. 

“The Christian life is a struggle," the Rev. Anselm Chigozie Amadi said in the church's Nov. 1 bulletin. "We are combatants in the battlefield of life. Our victory over the three-fold enemies (the flesh, the world and Satan) is a combined work of grace and human cooperation.” 

We read in the sacred Scriptures about the saints and the fact that they are marked with the sign of God, as they belong to him and are consecrated in their lives to God himself. 

The number of 144,000 that is stated in the Book of Revelation is a symbolic, not a precise, number. 

“144,000 is a numerical symbol of perfection and completeness," Fr. Amadi said. "It stands for the number of the redeemed who have offered to God the sacrifice of their lives as the firstfruit offering." The multitude is the group of individuals who have lived through the time of judgement, having strived to serve God no matter the circumstances. 

On All Saints Day, let us remember the heroes of the faith who have gone before us.