November 2, 2025

Dear Parishioners,

This Sunday we celebrate the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day). Because November 2nd falls on a Sunday, it trumps what would have been the 31st Sunday of Ordinary Time. Instead of reflecting on Zacchaeus, who would have been the subject of the Gospel, we’re reflecting on death and the afterlife.

I was reading recently about the practices in a Carthusian monastery. The Carthusians are probably the most austere Catholic religious order in the world. They live in silence, other than the prayers they recite seven times throughout the day. They arise at 2am to pray and never leave the monastery. They wear a coarse white habit, live in a spartan cell, do manual labor around the monastery when they’re not praying or studying, and live everyday on a meager diet of vegetables, bread, and water. There’s a 2005 movie/documentary called Into Great Silence that gives an insight into Carthusian life at the Grande Chartreuse monastery in the French Alps, if you’re interested to find out more.

At any rate, I read that above the gates to the cemetery at a Carthusian monastery are the words Hodie mihi, cras tibi. Translated literally means, “Today is mine, tomorrow is yours.” Or, in other words, “Today it is me who has died and is being buried; tomorrow it will be you, so be ready.”

That might come across as taunting, but it isn’t, especially when you hear about what these Carthusians do on the day of a monk’s funeral. I mentioned they are very austere, particularly their diet. Well, the only time they ever eat meat is the funeral day of a monk. They consider it a celebration, an event worth feasting.

These Carthusians understand death.

I often muse on people’s grief at funerals. Are they crying because they will miss their loved one? Are they crying because they are sad for the deceased’s sake? Are they crying because of some regret? Maybe it’s all of the above. Or, maybe there’s no one specific reason for the tears. The tears are just flowing from the heart, which is experiencing a variety of emotions.

I’m also very moved at weddings when a bride and groom cry during the exchange of their vows. It doesn’t always happen, but when it does, it is very profound and I struggle not to cry myself. I’m witnessing such love and joy. This couple is so happy to crown their love, so happy to finally say, “This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” They are so happy to no longer be alone, but officially and forever sealed ‘unto death do them part.’ They are so happy they cry. And I like to think God is crying tears of joy with them; that those tears in the bride and groom are coming from the Holy Spirit.

I also like to think God is crying similar ‘wedding tears’ when a soul passes from this world to the next. Christ is crying joyfully that he can finally and forever unite himself to the deceased. It is a real marriage in heaven. We say a soul passes through the veil. Like the father of the bride might lift the veil of his daughter before he hands her off to the husband, God parts the veil and receives us who have died into his embrace.

One translation of the Bible has Jesus’ last words not being “It is finished” but rather “It is consummated.” I like that. Death is the consummation of love. This is why the Carthusians feast. And perhaps this is why we cry at funerals. We are subliminally feeling what God is feeling–those ‘wedding tears.’

So, let me propose a toast to death. May all the faithful departed enjoy God’s splendor. And may we join them in the marriage feast one day.

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A reminder that this Saturday, November 1st is the Solemnity of All Saints. This year it is not a holy day of obligation. We will have just the regular 8:30am Saturday daily Mass. Per instructions from the Archdiocese, the 4:30pm Saturday Mass will be for the Feast of All Souls (November 2nd). And, of course, all the Masses on Sunday, November 2nd will be for the celebration of All Souls.

At the 4:30pm Saturday Mass on November 1st we will remember all the faithful departed from our parish over the past year. Families are welcome to bring a picture or some other object of their loved one for the remembrance table that will be in the sanctuary. We will also put out a table of all the parish’s relics of saints, in honor of All Saints Day.

There will be All Souls Books of Remembrance in the church at the Mary altar and in the back of the church in the vestibule for you to write the names of any deceased. These books will be available throughout the month of November and we will be praying for the repose of their souls.

This Sunday, November 2nd, we will have a Family Mass at 10:30am in the HFC. Also this weekend, November 1st and 2nd, is the Baby Bottle Drive collection of bottles and the Stuff the Truck and Winter Coat Drive.

At the 9am Mass this Sunday, November 2nd, we will be blessing and inaugurating the new officers of the SPC Women’s Club: Ashley McNichols and Jessica India (co-presidents), Susie Constantini (communications), Megan Waldeck (membership), and Nicole Stinson (treasurer). Congratulations to the officers and thank you for your service.

Finally, this weekend is Daylight Savings. Don’t forget to adjust your clocks.

Yours in Christ,

Fr. James Wallace