We have just celebrated the great feasts of all the saints and all souls. Both of these feasts point us to the future. First, like the holy souls we too will leave this world behind. So they and we will need prayers. Second, the saints highlight our true goal in life which is to attain heavenly glory and life eternal with God. Dying is a part of life and becoming a saint. Martyrdom is the surest way to die and reach heaven but not likely for most of us. Being a holy soul is most likely our path and our need for purgation. The prayers and sacrifices of others help them. So let us pray for our beloved dead, their eternal peace and graces needed to attain that eternal rest. These feasts should encourage us here and now to prepare ourselves for that day that will come for all of us. Perhaps we are not always thinking of what comes next or how we can live a life that is centered completely on God and our being disciples striving for holiness. Still each day that God gives us is that opportunity to come ever closer to that reality.
Our nation is also going to the polls this coming week. Pray to the Holy Spirit for our country. There is a great need for healing. Our motto as a nation has been E pluribus unum. That sense of unity and concern for others needs to be rebuilt by each of us.
It is not “trick or treat” but a meeting with Bishop Battersby and fellow Deans that will happen on Halloween. So happy for prayers for a safe trip and productive meeting.
Congratulations to our Confirmation students and their reception of the Holy Spirit. For them and us each day is an opportunity to live more deeply our faith with the help that the Spirit provides. We are called to be witnesses wherever we find ourselves. In your daily prayers ask for those gifts of the Holy Spirit to be more deeply opened in your life. We are given so many graces that we do not always use or find ourselves so busy with life that we do not notice them. Do not allow God’s gifts to sit there but put them into action. It is not the dramatic experience of the original Pentecost we should expect but daily moments we can call the Holy Spirit into, that will build up the Kingdom.
— Fr. John Potaczek
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