The Pastor's Pen

Sunday, October 30, 2022, Thirty-first Sunday in Ordinary Time

Why the Ghosts are Knocking on Your Door: Halloween will find many of us keeping vigil by the front door awaiting those who show up in costumes asking trick or treat? Why this strange custom? Even back to ancient pagan times it was believed that the barrier between this world and the next, though never completely sealed, is particularly permeable at the end of the month of October. Therefore, one might expect visitors at this time, perhaps the ghosts of loved ones or not so nice goblins from the other side asking favors “treats” and should one ignore or refuse them, it is likely that the less benevolent among them might play a trick on you. Christians transformed pagan beliefs with the Gospel and so adapted these customs with our belief that the souls of the departed faithful are never far from us, and some among them still need our prayerful help to get into heaven. What better day to be admitted there than the Feast of All the Saints, on November 1st, thus on the evening before this feast the ghosts of relatives, neighbors and friends might be visiting to ask our prayers so as to get them into heaven for the grand celebration.

This helps us to understand why ghosts are traditional attire and skeletons typical decorations for Halloween, but when the borders are open between the visible and the invisible worlds then both the good and the bad may cross and so one cannot be certain as to who might be knocking!. While such customs can be fun, they have a deeper meaning and so we should take care that All Hallows Evening not become devoid of all Christian influence as commercial interests try to capitalize on this occasion just as they do Christmas and Easter and thus distort their meaning in the process. Christian Parents should be especially careful to see that their baptized children understand the religious roots of these customs and that they not celebrate Halloween merely by dressing up to go trick or treating without first participating in the Vigil Mass of All Saints to offer prayers that the departed faithful of their family circle be worthy to be included in that heavenly feast.

All Saints Day: Masses for the Solemnity of All Saints, a holy day of obligation, will be celebrated in a Vigil Mass on Monday evening October 31st at 4:PM and on Tuesday, November 1st at 8:30 AM and 5:30 PM. The collection taken up on this feast is for charity, so it will be given to our Matthew 25 Fund which provides the financial resources to support the parish’s weekly food pantry and enables us to meet basic needs such as transportation, utilities, and housing for those who seek assistance from the parish through our Financial and Resources Ministry. In the present economic climate, requests for help are increasing, so your generosity is greatly appreciated!.

All Soul’s Day (and month): November 2nd, the day following the Feast of All the Saints, we turn our attention to what is to become our focus throughout November until the celebration of the harvest at Thanksgiving; assisting the souls of the faithful still in a state of purification as they progress toward their ultimate destination in God’s eternal kingdom. Rarely do any of us achieve the perfection of holiness that we require to enter into the presence of God immediately upon our passing from this world, yet God in his great mercy provides for our cleansing, in a state which we call Purgatory because it is there that any stain of sin is purged from our souls so that we may be worthy of heaven. We believe that the souls in this state of cleansing can be aided by the Church on earth by prayer and sacrifice and the Church in heaven by prayerful intercession. So we are invited to identify those for whom we especially wish to pray by listing them on the envelope provided for All Souls’s and to make a sacrifice in the form a donation for the good of the e good of the church, and the manes of these souls are then placed on the altar beginning on November 1st through Thanksgiving and are remembered in the prayers of the Masses during this time, and especially in a weekly Mass celebrated especially for them.