Dear friends in Christ
This Sunday we celebrate All Saints—transferred from 1st. Tuesday will be All Souls—Commemoration of the Faithful Departed. These two days introduce us into the month of November which is marked as always by our consideration of eternal life in a more profound way. All Saints allows us to reflect on the fact that we are created not for this life, but for the next; not for life on earth, but for a life in Heaven with God and His Saints. The summons or call to becoming a Saint is not something we do alone. The life of the Christian is a life lived in communion with God and one another. So, we do not achieve holiness, and Heaven itself, by our own efforts or by our own means. Salvation comes to us through Jesus Christ and the helps that he provides which are given uniquely through His Catholic Church. As we begin this month of November, let us keep eternal life clearly before our eyes. None of us knows the precise day or time that God will call us to Himself—will call us to give an account of our lives—but we stand always ready.
During November we customarily keep the memories of our Beloved Dead in our prayers. Their names can be placed under the Altar by using one of the envelopes at the back of church and placing it in the box provided, including an offering if you can, for Holy Souls Masses. In this way, we present them to God in the Masses and Offices during this month of the Holy Souls. Visiting a place of burial—or cemetery—is a custom at this time. We have a Memorial Garden beside our church which contains the remains of many of our Parish Family; you might think of pausing there on the way to or from Holy Mass and offering a prayer for their eternal repose. The Church offers a Plenary Indulgence in the first week of November. Those who are buried there are now recorded on a roll that has been made and placed in the cabinet by the Sacristy door and opposite St Joseph. As we do not have individual memorials in the Garden this now provides a means whereby we can see their names and express the Christian charity of prayer for the Departed.
You will note that there will be Requiem Mass in our church for the repose of the soul of Sir David Amess MP on Friday, 12th November. This will be a month to the day since his tragic death. This Requiem gives the opportunity to any in our Community, who would wish to come and pray in a spirit of recollection and reconciliation, for the eternal repose of Sir David. During my days in Rome last week I gave an interview to the online Italian Catholic journal: La Nuova Bussola Quotidiano—The New Weekly Compass and here is the link to the English version of the article if you are interested.
May God bless you!
Msgr Kevin Hale