Already it is getting dark very early, and though the
maples out front have not yet exploded in their customary colors, fall is well
on its way. I had to turn on the heat in
the church and in the rectory this week!
I also received shipments of supplies I will need for Halloween, which
is this coming Thursday. The veteran
tick-or-treaters among you will know just what those supplies are.
If it is getting colder, then it must be time for our
Fifth Quarter party next Saturday after the annual Gonzaga-St. John’s football
grudge match. That is a lot of fun, and
one of the ways people from around the metro area learn about our excellent parish.
We have autumn traditions besides football and
trick-or-treating, but you won’t see them advertised on television because they
do not help sell you anything. If you
are wondering how to engage the season, without falling into commercialism, and
in a way that strengthens your family and your faith, you know that the Church
has something for you.
First of all, the Halloween hijinks are a precursor
to a holy day – a Holy Day of Obligation, in fact, and a day that is holy
because of the ones whom we recognize and celebrate: All Saints. Friday’s unique feast acknowledges that many,
many of the Holy Ones of God have not received and may never receive public and
official acknowledgement for their sanctity and service. Though “unlisted,” they rejoice all the same
with the saints whose names we cite and whose days we mark throughout the
year. As ever, when we celebrate saints,
part of the reason for our joy is that they reveal what is possible for each
and every one of us, and make good on their promise to help us achieve it:
holiness, in eternity, in heavenly glory.
Second, after we reflect on the help we receive from all the saints who have
gone before us, we acknowledge as well our obligation to offer help to the ones we love who have died, on their path to
beatitude. November is the month of
prayer for our beloved dead, who were good, oh so good, but not perfect, oh no.
God has revealed His mercy is powerful enough to make perfect those who fall
short, because nothing less is good enough for heaven. We rejoice to be cooperators with God in this
project of perfection, when we bring our love to bear in union with his, and offer
our time, attention, penances, and prayers for the souls of the faithful
departed.
The second day of November, Saturday at 11:00, we
will offer a Requiem Mass for the souls our parish has commended to the mercy
of God over the past twelve months. Come
do something for the ones who no
longer can choose or do anything for themselves; the ones you love, or
remember, who have died, and await their liberation. The music will be from Gabriel Fauré’s
sublime setting of the Requiem Mass, “requiem” being Latin for “rest,” as in,
“Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.”
Every day in November, one of our parish Masses will
be offered for the perfection and purification of the souls in purgatory. You may bring the saving power of Christ’s
sacrifice to bear on your loved ones who have died by submitting their names in
an All Souls’ envelope along with your sacrificial offering on their
behalf. Doing this, we are carefully,
intentionally keeping their memories alive in our hearts and before Christ.
Our Church offers traditions that enrich us with
faith, hope, and love. These dwindling
days remind us that our own days are numbered, and awareness of our mortality
gives us not fear, but confidence in Christ, who neither dwindles nor
diminishes, for in Him there is no darkness, even in November.
Monsignor Smith
