Happy All Souls Day,

I'm lucky to be Catholic.  Yesterday we had All Saints Day, where basically we celebrate our heroes, who fought for Christianity, who loved people over things, our role models.

Today we remember all who have passed away.  I think about the song, "Swing low, sweet charriot..."  What could any group/organization do to be more all-inclusive than Catholics are?  It wasn't our choice as Catholics to remember the dead in this way, it was the work of the Holy Spirit who guilds us.  And, this sort of all-inclusiveness does not mean we are a group of similar minded folks who choose to associate with one another due to some common interest.  No, this phenomenon is not a man-made thing at all.  If anything the person sitting next to me at Mass is less like me than, I imaging, the average two people sitting next to each other at Protestant Services are like each other; (sorry for that awkward sentence).  We Catholics are each different from each other, but it is the Mass which unites us, or rather, where Jesus unites us; "Love your neighbor."  He has to remind us of this; All Souls Day reminds us of this...

Prayer: this is what unites us.  Please take time to pray for your loved-ones who've passed away.  This is the essence of All Souls Day -- to remember, and to pray for those who have passed away.