Solemnity of All Saints and The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed – November 1-2, 2024
Time is a liturgical symbol created by God and regulated by the cosmos. In each particular day or season, in each minute or hour, we encounter Christ who is at once timeless and present in this time. Less like “deadlines” confining the paschal mystery to a fixed date, our memorials are more like pings along our path. They remind us to pause, look up, and see the mystery that surrounds us every moment of our lives.
These dual feasts of our saints and beloved dead serve as annual prompts to recall who walks with us every day in spaces sacred and secular. At every Eucharist, we enter the eternal liturgy with the entire communion of saints.
As we pause on these days to remember that we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us be more attentive to the ways we walk daily with the ancestors.
On each day of the year, in every nation, race, people, and tongue, and in every diocese, parish, and religious community, the People of God represented by that local church remember the holy women and men who have shaped their own expression of faith.
As we pause on these days to remember that we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us be more attentive to the ways we walk daily with the ancestors. Let our music and art, our name days and anniversaries, and the stories of saints of old and saints next door help us always to persevere in running the race that lies before us.
Leave a Reply