So we had Halloween on Wednesday, where many of experienced a secular purely American festivity (Latinos don’t celebrate this day as they do in the US). For us who are Catholic Hispanics, Halloween is the day that prepares us to celebrate All Saints Day on November 1st. The first of this 11th month is a day that has been set aside for many many centuries to reflect on all those who have come before us, those who have set examples for us of what it means to be holy, wise and live fulfilled and joy filled lives. Often times, those experiences when not seen through the eyes of Christian faith, can seem illogical and crazy.
Today we have the second day of the 11th month where we commemorate, All Souls Day. But with all the hoopla over Halloween and the two day old crumpled candy wrappers littering our house, and fun with the All Saints processions and going to Mass and eating a special familly dinner, it seems that today can be easily overlooked.
So what’s up with All Souls Day? Today we as a Church community, celebrate the gift of eternal life. In light of today's need for immediacy and compulsions to feel good now, the idea of eternity may seem irrelavant to some.
Believing in the eternal makes life worth living, gives me purpose beyond the tangible goals I may have set for myself, and makes me realize that I am a bridge between those who came before me and those who will come after me.
As I was drive my son to school each mornig, it is our habit to hold hands. (OK, I know I should have both hands of the steering wheel.) This morning, as I pressed his skinny little 6th grade fingers between my own, I remembered how I would also hold my grandmothers worn and withered hands and caress her one crooked index finger. Because of her arthritis, she had a funny way of pointing and I have always noted that Zac’s index finger bends a bit too at his first knuckle. Although my grandmother has passed on a few years ago, it was in this ordinary moment in my car that I felt us connected to her and her to us.
So, yes, I do believe that our souls are eternal. I agree with Catholic philosopher Pierre Tielhard de Chardin in his book, The Phenomenon of Man (1955) wrote: "We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.”
Today is a day to celebrate that we are spirit and matter. I am thankful for a God who says "I love you" each and every day. Today reminds me that even if I don't understand the concept of eternity, there are moments in my day that God gives me a glimpse of the eternal unity we all share and that he has gifts us with. I am called to put my hope in a GOD who IS LOVE and I AM love too when I choose to live for LOVE.
Lord, today I pray that you give me eyes to see and ears to hear you in all the moments of my day! For often I am distracted and yet, I long for you! Amen!
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