Happy Thirtieth Sunday! We’re all gearing up for the hallowed festivities of the coming week, and hopefully you’ll catch a glimpse of the little ones dressed up in their costumes. My favorites are the onesie animal costumes for infants. On my brother’s side, my two nieces are going to be Luigi and a Goomba (those brown, mushroom-shaped enemies you jump on in the Super Mario video games). If you knew them, you’d know that’s very on brand. They are funny kids. No word yet on my sister’s kids, so that will have to be a surprise!
Thinking back on it now, I honestly don’t remember any of my childhood costumes except for one Halloween when I was a bat. Not Batman, which would have been much cooler. I also remember one year when it was so cold that it snowed, and I had to wear snow pants. But my candy sack was always a pillowcase, which I’m sure is still the vibe these days. Right? That’s practically a childhood rite of passage, I should think.
Whether you’re reading this bulletin on Saturday or Sunday, remember that you’re invited to our St. Robert Cemetery Walk! It runs from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM both evenings. Bundle up, just in case, and park in the church parking lot. We’ll shuttle you over, since there is no parking on-site. The walk follows our cemetery pathway and takes about 30–40 minutes. Along the way, we meet the stories of saints whose lives teach us Christian wisdom about life and death. It’s quite moving, and it’s a fitting way to prepare for November, the month dedicated to praying for our beloved dead.
In my priestly ministry, I regularly visit cemeteries to pray for and bury the dead. Both are works of mercy: praying for the dead is a spiritual work of mercy, and burying the dead is a corporal one. But even back in my college days at UM, I loved to walk through cemeteries now and then. For two years, I lived in a house directly across the street from Forest Hill Cemetery, whose graves go all the way back to the 1850s. It always seemed very peaceful to me. I would notice the birth and death dates, and who was buried near whom. Even gravestones can teach us so many lessons about life.
As I believe I encouraged us last year, consider visiting a cemetery sometime in November and walking among the graves. Pray for the people you pass by or visit the grave of one of your own loved ones and spruce it up in some small way. Learn the silent lessons the dead can teach us while you still have time among the living. At 39, I’m already feeling how quickly life rushes forward.
Let us thank God for every day He gives us and make the most of this precious gift of time.
From Fr. Brian