The awareness of being part of the communion of saints makes our hearts as wide as the world. The love with which we love is not just our love; it is the love of Jesus and his saints living in us. When the Spirit of Jesus lives in our hearts, all who have lived their lives in that Spirit live there, too. Our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents; our teachers and their teachers; our pastors and their pastors; our spiritual guides and theirs—all the holy men and women who form that long line of love through history—are part of our hearts, where the Spirit of Jesus chooses to dwell. The communion of saints is not just a network of connections between people. It is first and foremost the community of our hearts.

– Henri Nouwen,  Bread for the Journey