Wednesday Reflection
Midweek Reflection
3rd November 2021
On Friday last, I attended the funeral of the mother of a friend of mine. Some of the relatives of the deceased, I hadn’t seen for years. Not just because of Covid or anything like that. Just that life takes us all off in different directions and with different aims and different purposes. But at a time of sadness we draw closer together and the years of separation seem to dissolve and disappear. Like sugar in hot tea or salt in the cooking pot. That drawing together, especially when accompanied by prayer, makes us stronger and more closely knit together once again. If even for a short time.
That’s what happens in November in a larger scale, thanks to the Communion of Saints. All the saints in heaven unite with us in praying for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. When I was a Parish Priest, I used to love looking through the November Lists before putting them in the box before the altar. I felt it was important to at least have seen the names of those for whom I would offer Mass almost every day during the month. I would notice names occurring in various lists….maybe a parishioner who had died in the course of the year. I would notice the huge number who would end with, the most forgotten soul in Purgatory. Sadly, however, I would also notice the majority who never included the names of deceased priests and bishops. Perhaps, in their goodness, they thought we were all saints and didn’t need their prayers. But we do!
So, please recall and record those priests who baptised you, who heard your confessions and gave you Holy Communion. The bishop who visited your school, perhaps administered the Sacrament of Confirmation and ordained the priest in your parish. Preparing or adding to your November List is such a comforting thing to do. Very often the exercise will be accompanied by tears when we realise how much we miss a much-loved friend….and with a smile when we remember the joy they brought to our lives.
“Eternal Rest grant unto them all that they may repose in Eternal Light.”
Monsignor Monaghan
