Month: November 2020

As I slid into the pew and knelt down to prepare my heart for Mass, I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Glancing over to the sill of the stained glass window, I noticed several picture frames holding images of unknown individuals. Some were black and white, some looked fairly recent, but one thing I knew for sure, they were all no longer with us. It was the month of November and my parish had invited everyone to bring in images of their deceased loved ones. It was a time to pray for the souls of those still in purgatory.

Fast forward to a different year in a different state and I found myself in a cemetery setting up chairs. The Hispanic community would celebrate Mass outside among the graves. Tables lined the edges of the seating area and these people were also bringing in images of their loved ones. But this time, they also brought decorations, food, flowers, candles, toys, dolls and sometimes even painted skulls. What an incredible tradition! So different from what many of us are used to, “El Día de Muertos” is more a day of celebration than of mourning.

After Mass was over, we shared a meal of tamales, horchata (warm rice milk with cinnamon) and pan de muertos (bread of the dead). Those present recalled anecdotes of their relatives and friends and shared the foods they once enjoyed the most. The wind was brisk and the day was chilly, so not many lingered, but the ceremony was definitely memorable.

How will you chose to spend All Souls Day today? As you pray for the souls of your beloved departed, do you mourn them still or will you celebrate their past life on earth as well as their new life in heaven. For most of us, it will be a little bit of both. We cannot help but be sad that we can no longer physically spend time with them, but we rejoice that “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away.” (Rev 21:4)

Our readings today grant so much comfort. “The souls of the just are in the hand of God…they are in peace…they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself…and the faithful shall abide with him in love…” (Wis 3) Our Catholic Faith gives us so much hope. Paul proclaims such an amazing truth: “For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.” Did you hear that? We will rise again! And so will our loved ones.

So may this day be one where our mourning is turned into dancing because of God’s great promise to us.

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“For me to be a saint means to be myself” (Thomas Merton).

For as long as I can remember, I have always had a “Saint buddy.” Someone who’s help I would call upon if I ever needed anything. Of course, as a child, those needs were miniscule. “St. Therese, please help me to get the role of Flower in the Nutcracker.” “Mama Mary, give me a sign that he likes me back.” Or better yet, “St, Anthony, please help me find my mom’s necklace that I borrowed without her permission.” You get the idea.

The faith that we have as children that these little prayers will be answered is admirable!! But somewhere along the way, as we grow up, we start to view those kind of prayers as naive. We fall for the lie that praying for ourselves is selfish. We forget that we have POWERFUL intercessors in heaven that want to help grant us the desires of our heart. We have real-life heroes and heroines who fought the good fight — whose lives we can model in our pursuit of holiness. That is the great pearl of the Christian faith: that we were not made to walk this journey alone. We were created for community, both here on earth and in heaven.

There are a few saints who have stood out to me throughout the different seasons of my life. St. Therese of Lisieux is my Confirmation patron, and she is my go-to gal for all things morality and the Christian life. When I am going through a season of suffering, I look to Bl. Chiara Luce Badano or Servant of God Antonietta Meo, both of whom died at a young age from bone cancer. Bl. Chiara, who died at age 18 in 1971, was a model of redemptive suffering, and one of my favorite quotes from her is, “At this point, I have nothing left, but I still have my heart, and with that I can always love.” Servant of God Antonietta Meo was only 7 years old when she passed away in 1937, and her letters to God are proof of mysticism; “Dear Jesus, I love you very much. I want to abandon myself in your hands. I want to abandon myself in your arms. Do with me what you want. Help me with your grace. You help me, since without Your grace, I am nothing.”

My favorite thing about both of these saints is that they are RECENT!! These are not 1st century martyrs. These are young girls who walked this earth less than a hundred years ago. And there are even more recent soon-to-be saints, such as Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati and newly Blessed Carlo Acutis (who only died in 2006). This is PROOF to us that we are called to pursue sainthood right now, in our current state of life. When we think of the “Communion of Saints”, or “All Saints”, those phrases can be intimidating. It is true – there are hundreds of thousands of saints in heaven, many of whose names we do not even know. But that should also give us hope, that there is room for us. Salvation is not for the elite, the perfect, the cream of the crop. If you look at our saints, many of them led very normal lives before having conversions. It should encourage us that sainthood is attainable for every single one of us, no matter our social class, wealth, or past.

A way that I have been able to make the saints seem more personable to me is to choose patron saints of the year. You can even do this more frequently, like once a month or even once a week. There are many ways to pick a patron saint. A good place to start is your namesake, or your Confirmation saint! You can choose one who exemplifies a virtue you want to grow in, or one who lived the same state of life that you are currently in. There are patron saints of different hobbies or vocations. You can choose a saint who was around your same age, or from the same place as you.

It is a great tragedy that we go through our lives, forgetting our friends in heaven. I hope this All Saints Day, you will make a resolution to choose a patron saint, and call on them to help you and lead you home.

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