“still close” (All Souls)

Nov 2, 2013

Today, November 2, the Church celebrates the Feast of All Souls. The month of November is marked as the month of Holy Souls. In this month we take pause to remember those who have died. We pray for those whom we have loved in life on earth. We pray for those who have loved us. We also remember those who have no one to remember them.
It is traditional to take time in November to visit the graves of our loved ones. In our parish of Good Shepherd Hurunui we will do this later today and tomorrow. The timetable for these visits is below.Pope Benedict reflected beautifully on this a couple of years ago:

“…the Church invites us to commemorate all the faithful departed, to turn our eyes to the many faces who have gone before us and who have ended their earthly journey…during these days we go to the cemetery to pray for the loved ones who have left us, as it were paying a visit to show them, once more, our love, to feel them still close, remembering also, and article of the creed: in the communion of saints there is a close bond between us who are still walking here upon the earth and those many brothers and sisters who have already entered eternity.

“Human beings have always cared for their dead and sought to give them a sort of second life through attention, care and affection, In a way, we want to preserve their experience of life; and paradoxically by looking at their graves, before which countless memories return, we discover how they lived, what they loved, what they feared, what they hoped for and what they hated, They are almost a mirror of their 

world.”

Pope Benedict XVI. All Souls Day 2011

This is also a good opportunity to teach children about our Christian confidence in death as the transition to the fulness of life. Children learn most easily with experience. To take your children to the graves of friends and family, and to teach them about the cemetery as a place of Christian hope, is a certain way to overcome Halloween fears about the cemetery as a spooky place

Saturday 2 November
2.30pm Prayer at Horsley Downs cemetery
3.30pm Prayer at Culverden cemetery
4.30pm Prayer at Hanmer cemetery
5.00pm Mass at Hanmer Springs
7.00pm Mass at Culverden

Sunday 3 November
8.00am Amberley
8.45am Prayer at Brackenridge cemetery
10.00am Cheviot
10.45am Prayer at Cheviot cemetery

Full details at www.catholichurunui.co.nzSAM_0338

0 Comments

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Posts

Ascension

Ascension

Most people think of the Ascension of Jesus as being a ‘departure’ moment. Jesus was here and now he is gone. We imagine Jesus going up into the clouds and the disciples waving farewell from below.
This is an unhelpful image.
It is essential that we understand what does happen and what does not happen in the Ascension event.
It would be easy to wrongly think that in his ministry showed us how to build the city of God on earth, and now he has gone and the mission is left to us.

touching the sacred

touching the sacred

A few years ago I was on Rēkohu Chatham Islands for what has become one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most sacred days, the ANZAC day of remembrance in gratitude for those who gave their lives, their health, their youth, their service that we may live in peace.
The art above was produced by one of the students at the local Te One school.

every which way

every which way

A good number of Food For Faith readers have discovered one of the more recent FFF initiatives, the weekly Homily Studio.
The recording of this half-hour podcast is one of the highlights of my week.

in the room

in the room

Today’s reflection marks the end of the FFF Lent-to-Easter daily email posts. Thank you for your company on this journey.  While these daily posts (for those who have signed up for the Lent / Advent reflections at this link) will take a break until Advent, those who have signed up to receive every post or regular posts at this link.  You might take a moment now to visit this page now to check your email preferences.

During retreat this week I found myself pondering just how difficult it is to accept that God, in Jesus, is really with me today.

disciplined discipleship

disciplined discipleship

As I write I’m nearing the end of retreat days with a group of fifty priests from across the USA.  As I mentioned a couple of days ago the diversity and youth of the group is remarkable with the majority being aged under 40 and a good number ordained for fewer than five years.