One of the best Halloween activities that I participated in was the Victory of the Saints prayer service and walk-through at St. Cecilia Cemetery that happened after the mass on October 30. We sang songs, sang the Litany of the Saints, and walked in procession among the graves. The day was crisp, the sun shining, and geese were flying overhead.
We topped the event off with cider and donuts and a few minutes of fellowship. We were asked to dress as a saint and so I carried a walking stick, imitating my patron saint, Saint Joseph, who walked with his wife, Mary, and the baby Jesus, to Egypt. There needs to be more St. Josephs in our world today.
Once again, I realized that while we miss our loved ones, we are still in communion with them. During the Litany of the Saints, we called upon them to pray with and for us, much the way we would ask a close friend, to pray with us. I also realized that each of the deceased was part of a family that they loved and that loved them. Let me rephrase that. Each of these deceased has a family that continues to love them and that they continue to love.
Love knows no boundaries. Not even death can stop love. I have lost many family members and friends to death, and I miss them all and continue to love them all. I also look forward to meeting them when I join them in heaven. I like to think they continue to love me, too!
Then there are the many people that I love, who are not deceased and yet we are separated by space and time. Thank God for cell phones that allow us to be in conversation with them, no matter how separated we are. Who among us does not think of the lives who have touched us in our past, loving us into being the people we are today? I often think of childhood friends and classmates, immediate and extended family members, living and passed. I think of students, and colleagues, of patients and professors who shaped me. I think of priests and nuns, and teachers, both present and pass who continue to mold me through their lessons, and special interest in me. I think of the close relationships I have today. Who would have ever thought that I would be loved over fifty years of marriage? That I would have children and grandchildren, that a brother would live with me, and a twin sister who while living in Texas, communicates many times per week? Who would have ever thought that I would have a thirty-year teaching career and twenty years in counseling? I am overwhelmed with the love I have received.
In a very personal and loving way I am connected to all these wonderful people, living and deceased. I really do believe that nothing in this world or beyond will ever be able to separate us from those we love and will continue to love for all eternity. We will always be together. We are still connected.
“ May the Lord bless and keep you. May he let his face shine upon you, and give you his peace.”