“Their sturdy backs bent down, by labor and fatigue, their eyes intent upon the earth, sift through stubble discarded by the reapers.”

—Sister Michaela O’Connor

Scripture Reflection for November 1, 2020
Solemnity of All Saints

October 31-November 2 can be seen as an autumn triduum of sorts, a three-day feast marking our relationship with sanctity and evil. On Halloween, we do not have an actual liturgical celebration except for the Saturday in ordinary time, but it is a day traditionally marked by activities that show we have a healthy respect for evil but we do not worship it, nor do we let evil or fear of evil govern our everyday activities; we do not consider fun to be evil, and in fact, we dress our children up as scary monsters and laugh at them, take pictures of them and post them on the Internet. November 1 is the Solemnity of All Saints, a celebration of those who have been recognized as saints and canonized formally by the church, and also of those who have not been publicly recognized but who are saints nonetheless. They have persevered against evil, whether by living a life of simple heroic virtue or by undergoing painful torment and yet remaining faithful. On November 2, we celebrate officially — and liturgically — the Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed, those whose final status is known to God alone. We pray that we may all one day be recognized by God for our faithfulness, look to the saints as our role models, and have some fun while we live our lives on this beautiful planet God has created for us. Earth has its issues, and we need to deal with them, but it is at present the only planet we know of that we can call home. There is no Planet B!
Sister Carol J. Crater, SHF