Reflection for November

The celebration of All Saints on the 1st. of November is a beautiful feast.  When I think of this feast I am always reminded of the words of Jesus: "The harvest is great, but the labourers are few."  On this feast we celebrate a harvest of all the new saints that have entered the Kingdom of heaven in the past year.  These new saints may include people very close to our lives - parents, children, family members, good neighbours.  They are all people who in their lives have believed in the Gospel and tried to live at all times in the light of God's word. If our faith allows us to believe that there are countless new saints every year, then we can be more at peace with our loss and our grief and give our loved ones back to God in faith and in acceptance of his will

The Commemoration of the Faithful Departed on November 2nd. (All Souls Day) gives us a different perspective  on the need to remember our dead.  The thought that they may have unrequited sins gives us the opportunity to help them and support them on their way to heaven.  Our great difficulty with the notion of Purgatory is that we can think of it only in terms of time, whereas in God's life there is no time, no past no future, only the present.  We have always being reminded that "it a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be released from their sins"  This day is our opportunity to offer our dearest ones our support and our prayers if they are in need of them

Sean Heaney P.P.