Reflection

All Saints and All Souls Day

This week is the feast of All Saints. Throughout the year, the Church celebrates the lives of men and women who lived lives of heroic faithfulness. On this feast, we honour all holy men and women, those we officially recognize as saints or blessed, along with all those who are in heaven and known only to God, and indeed all those faithful still living, who look forward to reaching the fullness of blessedness in heaven. 

At this time, we thank God, for the tremendous sacrifices made by those who have gone before us. May God bless the memories of the saints. In this reflection I will focus on St Joseph. May we learn how to walk wisely from his example of faith, hope and love.

We know about St Joseph through the Bible. We know that he was a righteous man and a merciful man. He always treated Mary with dignity and respect.  He did not want to disgrace her when he thought (incorrectly) that she was unfaithful. Let us reflect in our own lives how we can do the right thing and how we can show mercy to others.

We know that St Joseph was ever ready and open to carry out God’s will as revealed to him in the Law and through four dreams. Let us reflect in our own lives how we can be open to do what God wants us to do.

St Joseph was entrusted with loving and protecting Mary and Jesus - the protector of the Holy Family. May we always ask St Joseph to pray for us for protection from harm.

From St Joseph, Jesus learned the value, the dignity and the joy of work.  May this dignity and joy of work be reflected in what we do this term. It could be in the classroom, at home, at work, at a part time job. It could be paid or unpaid work. May this dignity and joy of work be evident in the way we conduct ourselves each day. May we look to St Joseph when work is very challenging or even overwhelming.

A long-standing tradition in the Church is to use All Souls Day, November 2, and the whole month of November to remember those who have died. We remember because life has changed, not ended. At this time, may we pray for those who have died. May we pray for those people who lived among us and somehow touched our lives. May we especially pray for our family and friends, our neighbours and those in the Nazareth College Community who have passed away. May we open our hearts in a special way to those who mourn those who have died.

 Holy Family of Nazareth, be our inspiration and our guide.

Jesus of Nazareth, help us to grow in Faith, Wisdom and Knowledge.