Halloween, All Saints Day and All Souls Day

Ah…weekend is approaching and another month has ended. Today is Halloween and unfortunately, we have awoken to a very rainy day. Hopefully by sundown when the kids are ready to embark on their "trick-or-treating" adventures, the rain will let up. As our family tradition goes, I will make a huge pot of chili and a pan of cornbread for the kids to eat before leading up to all the junk. This year, the kids have invited some friends over to enjoy the chili with us. Catherine has invited 2 girlfriends and Matthew and Alexander have invited 4 friends...all who happen to be girls (should I be worried about the future?). So, I will fill their bellies with some warm chili and cornbread and send them on their way to fill up their Halloween bags with LOTS of candy (sometimes they come home 1/2 way through to empty their bags because they get too heavy). I will do another posting to explain what our tradition is for dealing with all the candy). Mike will walk with the kids (along with his friend Mr. G and the Captain). I will stay home with baby Brendan handing out candy and cleaning up the dinner from 2 adults and 11 kids. OH WHAT FUN!! (really, I am quite happy staying in my warm house).

I am also reminded that today is also the the eve of All Saints Day...All Hallow's Eve. For us, Catholic Christians, we’ll be celebrating All Saints Day tomorrow. It is the day when the Church commemorates the glories of Heaven and all the saints, known and unknown. The following day, will be All Souls’\ Day. It is a day of remembrance for friends and loved ones who have passed away. It also reminds us of our obligations to live holy lives and that there will be purification of the souls of those destined for Heaven. In my ongoing attempt to educate my family about these important Holy Day, we will attend Mass and also participate in an All Soul's Day event which I have planned for our Family Ministry at our church. We will focus on what these Holy Days are truly about...remembering the people no longer with us, who still live under our skin — the ones that we look to for guidance, even if we can only imagine what they might say to us now. I try to think of those people in my own life often, but work and trick or treaters and laundry and phone calls get in the way. Over the next two days my family will make a point to remember them, one by one.

May you all have a happy and safe All Hallow's Eve and a

blessed All Saints and

All Souls Day!