I remember All Saints Day 1996 like it was yesterday. I was attending a meeting of Carmelite seminary directors in Rome and was invited to join Pope John Paul II at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City for the 50th anniversary of his ordination. What a thrill it was for me as a priest to celebrate the Eucharist with the Pope on the golden jubilee of his ordination! What I most remember about the event is the Pope himself, slowly but deliberately ascending the altar in St. Peter’s to kiss it and begin the Mass like any other priest in Christendom. The simplicity of his gestures, the physical energy and time it took him to reach the altar, the deliberateness of his every action will always remain in my memory.

As we celebrate All Saints Day 2005, I am sure that Pope John Paul II will be joining us in prayer from his new vantage point of heaven itself! Now his ordination day is also his feast day! This feast day which has been celebrated on November 1 for over 1200 years, is our day to celebrate all those who have gone before us in faith to the Lord’s Kingdom of Heaven, whether canonized saints or not. It is important for us to remember the ultimate destination of our Christian calling and be strengthened by the example of the holy men and women of every place and every time who are true models for us in our own Christian journey.

This year the Feast of All Saints, which falls on Tuesday, November 1, is a holy day of obligation for all Catholics in the United States. We will be celebrating four Masses here at Immaculate Conception and St. Joseph. Our first Mass will be at 4 PM on Monday, October 31, Halloween afternoon, at St. Joseph Church. On Tuesday, November 1, we will have a 6:30 AM Mass at Immaculate Conception Church, an 8:30 AM Mass at St. Joseph Church with the 4th-8th graders of Xavier Elementary School and the student body of Immaculata High School, and a 7 PM Mass at Immaculate Conception Church. We hope that the variety of Mass times will allow you and your family to join us for All Saints Day.

On Wednesday, November 2, the Church celebrates All Souls Day. This is the day for us to pray for our beloved dead, that the Lord will purify them of their faults and failings in purgatory and bring them into the communion of saints in heaven. We will have a special 7 PM Mass at Immaculate Conception that evening, offered for all of the members of our parish who have died during the past year. This is also an opportunity for all our parishioners who have lost loved ones outside the parish to pray for them in a special way. Please join us.

Also, it is a tradition in our parishes to pray for all the beloved dead of our parish family throughout the month of November. Please use the envelopes provided at the back of church to list your loved ones’ names. No donation is necessary; any donation will be accepted. These envelopes will remain on the altars at St. Joseph and Immaculate Conception throughout the month of November.

God bless you always!