Remembering those we have lost (E-Pistle Message)

This past year and a half of pandemic has been difficult in so many ways. As we return to enjoying time with family and friends, the celebrations of All Saints and All Souls Days this week were even more poignant and meaningful for so many. In celebrating these feast days in remembrance of those who have gone before us, many painfully felt the feelings of emptiness and loss. But it is precisely in that sadness that we seek and encounter the comfort of God who will never leave us to face our difficulties alone.

This week too, the country participated in another election day; a reminder of the democratic process that further binds us together. In some ways as a Church and a nation we have become polarized and divided. To that, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, challenges us to respond by building a “better kind of politics, one truly at the service of the common good.” We are called to overcome this division, encourage respectful dialogue, and help seek the truth through the lens of Sacred Scripture and the tradition of the Church handed down through the centuries.

This month let us joyfully welcome the celebration of Thanksgiving for our nation and the beginning of the season of Advent. May we continue to have hearts filled with gratitude and anticipation for the coming of our Lord, and through the intercession of St. Joseph, patron saint of the Universal Church, may we grow in our devotion to Christ’s Sacred Heart.