Fine mensis Rosarium, et Vigilia Omnium Sanctorum et Commemoratio omnium fidelium defunctorum (For the end of the month of the Rosary, and the Eve of Solemnity of All Saints, and the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed)
My dear Friends,
Ending the month of the Rosary and the Eve of All Saints
September and October 2023 are dedicated to focus on changing of offices for ministries and our BECs. Nominations and elections are to be held. It is a time for careful consideration. It is also a time for self-reflection. It is a time to close ranks and to bring unity. Below is a note to assist you in your deliberations:
1. October is the Month of the Rosary. As we near the end, the 31st, gives us an opportunity to honour our blessed mother. And it is also the eve of All Saints Day.
2. It is a wonderful opportunity to have a procession, praying the Rosary. At the same time, we have our children, dressed up as saints, surrounding the statue of Mother Mary, praying the Rosary, with the altar servers, marching down Jalan Tengku Kelana, evangelising to all and sundry.
3. On this day, let the world know that we proclaim who we stand for, and our children, dressed up as the saints in heaven, gathering round and giving glory to God. It is a marvellous sight to behold.
4. However, it breaks my heart to see good Catholic children, dressing up as ghouls, demons, and vampires, encouraged by their parents to go “Trick or Treating.” Dressing up as saints encourages us to emulate these holy men and women. Dressing up as ghouls, vampires, witches, and demons merely encourage them to act like an ungodly jumble.
5. In the name of all that is holy and good, I hereby exhort, discourage, and disallow every practising Catholic from attending such a demonic party. Please do not attend such an event in the name of “fun.”
6. On this day, let us learn to glorify God, and the saints in heaven. The Church Triumphant joins the Church Militant in proclaiming this union, that while we may be serving on earth, we look to the Church Triumphant, as a beacon of hope, as the promise to come, constantly encouraging us to find out inspiration in the Divine Life.
7. Indeed, even the beatitudes give us an incomparable way to reach heaven. How happy are you, who are the poor in spirit. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. To be poor in spirit is to recognise our own limitations, our own impoverishment.
8. To be poor in spirit is to rely on God’s strength, and not our own, or certainly not on the power of the netherworld. For our own strength is limited, but God’s strength is limitless, unmatched by the devil himself.
9. So, let us learn to rely on the power of God, as evident, by the lives of the saints and how they drew power from Him. One of my favourite quotations from Saint Teresa of Calcutta is that “holiness is not the luxury of a few people, but a simple duty for you and me.” We are all called to become saints, and we can accomplish that by striving to follow God’s commands and being united with Him in love. To be holy, to be a saint, means allowing God “to live His life in us” as Saint Teresa taught.
10. What is the difference between All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day? All Saints’ Day celebrates the holy men and women in Heaven, those known and unknown by the Church, on November 1, whereas All Souls’ Day honours all of the faithful departed on November 2.
Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (All Souls’ Day)
11. On All Souls’ Day, we bless the cemeteries and the columbarium. We pray that the dearly departed may rest in peace.
“But the souls of the upright are in the hands of God, and no torment can touch them. To the unenlightened, they appeared to die, their departure was regarded as disaster, their leaving us like annihilation; but they are at peace. If, as it seemed to us, they suffered punishment, their hope was rich with immortality; slight was their correction, great will their blessings be. God was putting them to the test and has proved them worthy to be with him; he has tested them like gold in a furnace, and accepted them as a perfect burnt offering. At their time of visitation, they will shine out; as sparks run through the stubble, so will they. They will judge nations, rule over peoples, and the Lord will be their king for ever. Those who trust in him will understand the truth, those who are faithful will live with him in love; for grace and mercy await his holy ones, and he intervenes on behalf of his chosen.” —Wisdom 3:1-9
12. The above passage comes from the Deuterocanonicals, from the Book of Wisdom, not found in the Christian Bible, only in the Catholic Bible. But it gives plenty of advice on the faithful departed. He, who is faithful in his life, will be exalted in the next.
13. This gentle advice is given for the family members of the faithful departed. Please do not lay food and drinks on the graves of your faithful departed. True, they may have enjoyed such food and drinks in their life here on earth. They are neither able to taste nor feast on such food and drinks in their present state. We understand that the dearly departed enjoyed them in his lifetime. But we must not serve them to him now that he has departed from this world. This practice is not in our culture. The important thing is, do we know the God of our faith? But I feel we have missed the point. Let us feed the living with food and drinks, not the dead. We should be more concerned to pray for the repose of the souls of the dead. I remember the late Fr Mari Arokiam used to say, “Let us learn to give flowers to the living, and not garlands to the dead.” Let us appreciate the living while they are still alive, while we still have the opportunity.
14. Also, leaving such food and drink attracts strays and other animals to the cemetery and the hygiene of the place becomes questionable. We have had to ask the Majlis Perbandaran Klang to clean it up. I pray it will not happen again this year.
15. Of course, the 2nd reading assures us for our eternal life, having been baptised with Christ we shall rise from the dead with Him:
“Someone who has died, of course, no longer has to answer for sin. But we believe that, if we died with Christ, then we shall live with him too. We know that Christ has been raised from the dead and will never die again. Death has no power over him any more.” —Romans 6: 7-8
16. So, what hope does Jesus’ promise hold for us? Nothing short of eternal life.
“It is my Father’s will that whoever sees the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and that I should raise that person up on the last day.” —John 6:40
17. Elsewhere, Jesus says,
“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, even though he dies, he will love. And whoever lives and believes in me, will never die.”
And to reinforce the point, Jesus asks:
“Do you believe this?” for which the listener, Martha, answers in the affirmative. —John 11: 25 – 26
18. The Lord needs an affirmative answer to His question today. If we believe in Him, then, we should pray and offer masses for all the faithful departed. Let us not be influenced by a culture and practices not our own, but rather live and uphold Christ. Amen.
Unmarked Graves
19. Finally, dear friends. Have a care for the persons lying in an unmarked grave. It may bear no name, no gender, no details of the person’s life, no record of the person’s date of birth or when s/he died. But it signifies that this person was a believer in Christ, a follower, a disciple. It may just be two pieces of splintery wood tied together, but it means the world to me. It tells me that this person’s life had meaning, and that s/he had lived and had significance. While no living person may now remember the life of the person lying in the unmarked grave, that person is still remembered, and should be borne up in our prayers.
20. Most of all, this person in the unmarked grave has a soul, a soul who should be commended to Christ, a soul who needs our prayers, a soul who has to be at peace awaiting Christ’s return, until s/he too may rise again, upon that majestic summons to rise and to join Him in everlasting glory. The unmarked grave does not signify hopelessness. It does not signify abandonment. It does not signify a faceless, characterless ignominy. It signifies hope, hope in the risen Lord. While we may not know their human face, Christ does, and shall call each of them by name on the Last Day. So, as we visit the graves of our family, friends and relatives, let us not pass these unmarked graves by without a prayer. Let us pray for them. Let us bless them, the dear soul resting in the unmarked grave.
Wishing everyone a spirit-filled celebration and a prayerful commemoration.
Given this 25th of October, 2023
Yours faithfully,
Rev Fr Gregory Chan
Parish Priest of the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes, Klang