“November is usually such a disagreeable month as if the year had suddenly found out she was growing old and could do nothing but weep and fret over it.” Anne Shirley (Anne of Green Gables)
From the final hour of Eucharistic Devotions to the memory of loved ones who are written in The Book of the Names of the Dead to the uncertainty of the meaning of election results, November might seem to make us feel like we are straddling between some impending “end of things” and a promise that there has to be some hope in the horizon. Don’t panic...this can be a good place to be. Growing old, as Anne of Green Gables says, could be just what needs to happen...old in the sense that we realize that all life grows/ changes and some things come to an end...and some things never end.
November reminds me a lot of something the monkscall momento mori (“remember you will die”). Now, don’tpanic, it’s not meant to bring you down, but to raise you up.Remembering our mortality is a healthy way to keep in mind the only thing that is eternal... God. The author of one of my favorite blogs, The Catholic Gentleman, found five things that momento mori/remembering our death, will help us grow in: our use of time, holy fear, living with no regrets, choosing a legacy of love or pain, knowing sainthood. Life is a gift. Live for eternity. Love Jesus, love others, forgive and be forgiven, give sacrificially, be humble, pursue the supernatural life of sanctity. Anything less is a waste of time.
Changes are around us, even within our Parish Pastoral Council (next week, I will offer a special thanks to those who served on our Parish Council/70th Anniversary Committee and are stepping down). Our newest members who will discern and help advise me and our pastoral staff are: Pam Crandall, George Frankovich, John Hardesty, Teresa Hodgkiss, Lisa McNeill, Meghan Schenz, LuAnn Thomas, Tom Vatalaro. Please pray for them and the sacrifice they are offering for the sake of our parish. Also, please remember to mark your calendars for our three-day Parish Mission (November 18, 19, 20) as I invite my friends, Fr. Emmanuel and Brother Kolbe, to draw us closer to the gift of Advent’s Emmanuel. Each night they will offer about an hour witness and give us a chance to know God’s Mercy and love through Reconciliation and The Mass
Momento Mori, Fr. Bline
