Christ Our Light Catholic Church - Loudonville, NY

November 2 and November 3
thirty-First Sunday in Ordinary Time

From Deacon Dick~ 

NOVEMBER begins with the Solemnity of All Saints on Friday, Nov 1 (Holy Day of Obligation) and The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed. Throughout the month we pray in and through the saints for our faithful departed. We also pray for ourselves that we may be faithful to the Gospel and, thus, become “saints” in our own time.

All Saints ~ This day began in the early Christian centuries as the Feast of All Martyrs whose names were not known. But devotion to saints who were not martyrs was also popular and, as these devotions became more widespread, the Church changed the name of the day to the Feast of All Saints in the 11th century.

The word “saint” is derived from Latin meaning “one who is holy or set apart.” So how do you and I participate in this “sainthood?” The Church teaches that “all baptized Christians receive a vocation to holiness” … a vocation to serve God and our neighbor!  So congratulations on your Feast Day as one “set apart” to BE God’s peace!

All Souls ~ Jesus saw death as a passage into a new life of eternal peace and joy with him.

Fr. Ronald Rohlheiser, in his book “Sacred Fire,” begins to unpack this question: Why do we pray for the dead?

I summarize his thoughts in this way:

-We pray for the dead for the same reason we pray for anything … because we need it. Jesus invites us to pray in petition because prayer is made to change us, not God.

-Prayer for the dead:

-Consoles the living and helps us heal our relationship with the deceased;

-Confirms our belief in the Communion of Saints in which a vital flow of life continues between us and our loved one, even beyond death. We hold each other’s hand so that the distance between us is less.

-Enables us to share with them the pain of letting go of this life and adjusting to new life in God.

May our prayers for our beloved deceased bring them and us to new life.