Word to the Wise
Sunday, November 2, 2008 - All Souls Day - The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed
[Wisdom 3:1-9; Romans 5:5-11 or 6:3-9; John 6:37-40]The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an afflication and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace.
I remember well the celebration of this feast in San Antonio when I was a pastor there. It was anything but a somber occasion! The cemeteries looked like flower shops and families would be gathering at burial sites with picnic lunches and spending the day! They would bring the favorite foods and beverages (yes, it included beer, etc) of the deceased, or, in the case of children, a favorite toy! Is all of this some kind of denial of death? Not at all! It is a recognition of the importance of death as an EVENT and not as a state of being, yes, yes! But more than that. Our loved ones are our loved ones forever. If anything, the feast of ALL SOULS is the feast of remembering! Our memories are the way in which our deceased loved ones continue to live within us. Once a year, we say it out loud: We remember you with love! This should motivate us today to visit the grave of a deceased loved one - to pray for them and ask them to pray for us. It is all a matter of love. When I am home in Natchitoches I make a point of visiting my parents' and my sister's graves. If I am in the vicinity of our provincial cemetery in Rosaryville, I stop there and visit those graves and remember the brothers buried there (with interesting feelings, just as they may have of me someday!) This is not a morbid preoccupation - it is the debt of love and an act of faith. AMEN
config
view
logs
4096.0 KB
56 ms
4
