Pathfinders

The Universal Church commemorates All the Faithful Departed (All Souls) today, a necessary time to remember and pray for the pathfinders and guides in our lives who have brought us to the place on our journeys where we find ourselves today:  Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, friends, and for some of us, younger people, even our children, who in some way have made us aware of what life is really about and taught us what really matters. There is a wisdom to setting aside a day such as today for reflection and for gratitude, as well as for imploring their assistance as we make our ways forward.  In many countries of Europe, this is the day for visiting cemeteries and decorating graves with chrysanthemums. Some of these departed might still be detained for complete purification before seeing God face to face, and for them we pray as well.  The Church encourages Mass attendance today and has set aide the whole month of November to pray for our beloved deceased.  It is a fitting time to do so as the Liturgical year winds down with reflection on the "Last Things", death, judgement, heaven, hell,  and in the Northern Hemisphere, even the hours of daylight are shorter.  Let us pray that our  deceased relatives and friends pass to a place of light and peace, and that their prayers and example help us to do so as well when our times comes.

Bro. Rene