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Nov 2 – Reflection
Virtue: Hope in Mourning
Cigar: Smooth, earthy (Sumatra)
Bourbon: Four Roses Small Batch – gentle, layered
Reflection: “Where does grief become grace?”
Grief becomes grace in the quiet places where sorrow is neither denied nor rushed, but honored as sacred ground. It is in the naming of what was lost, the gentle witnessing of pain by others, and the slow return to wounded places with prayer or poetry that grief begins to transfigure. Grace does not erase the ache—it enters it, dwells within it, and makes it fertile. When sorrow is offered—through service, storytelling, or ritual—it becomes generative. A candle lit, a meal shared, a stone carried: these are not distractions from grief, but sacraments of grace. In this way, grief becomes not just endured, but transformed—into tenderness, into wisdom, into blessing.
Sunday matinee-from Catholic Movies
Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is a cinematic meditation on human evolution, technology, and transcendence. Catholic reflections often draw on its themes of awe, mystery, and spiritual ascent.
🎬 Film Summary: A Journey from Ape to Star Child
Kubrick’s 1968 masterpiece unfolds in four enigmatic acts:
- The Dawn of Man: Prehistoric apes encounter a mysterious black monolith, triggering a leap in intelligence—symbolized by the use of tools and violence.
- TMA-1 Discovery: In the year 2001, humans find another monolith buried on the Moon, emitting signals toward Jupiter.
- Jupiter Mission: Aboard the spaceship Discovery One, astronaut Dave Bowman confronts HAL 9000, an AI that malfunctions and kills the crew. Dave disables HAL and continues alone.
- Beyond the Infinite: Dave reaches Jupiter and encounters a final monolith. He undergoes a surreal transformation, aging rapidly before becoming the Star Child—a luminous fetus orbiting Earth, symbolizing a new stage of human evolution.
✝️ Catholic Reflections: Awe, Transcendence, and the Mystery of Grace
Though Kubrick was not religious, 2001 evokes themes that resonate deeply with Catholic theology:
1. Awe and Mystery as Pathways to God
- The film’s pacing and silence invite viewers into contemplative awe—akin to the reverence found in liturgy and Eucharistic adoration.
- The monoliths act as sacraments of mystery: visible signs of invisible intelligence, drawing humanity toward transformation.
2. Human Evolution as Spiritual Ascent
- The journey from ape to Star Child mirrors the Catholic idea of divinization—humanity’s call to share in God’s nature (cf. 2 Peter 1:4).
- The Star Child is not just a technological leap, but a symbol of rebirth and transcendence, echoing baptismal imagery.
3. Technology and the Limits of Reason
- HAL’s breakdown reveals the dangers of disordered intellect—reason divorced from conscience.
- Catholic thought warns against technocratic hubris and calls for integration of reason with moral and spiritual wisdom.
4. The Monolith as a Symbol of Grace
- Like the burning bush or the Eucharist, the monolith is a threshold between worlds—an invitation to encounter the divine.
- It initiates change not through force, but through presence—mirroring how grace works in the soul.
🕊️ Liturgical Echoes and Cosmic Liturgy
- The film’s structure mimics a liturgy: entrance (Dawn), proclamation (Moon), sacrifice (HAL), and transformation (Star Child).
- The final act evokes resurrection and glorification—an eschatological vision of humanity’s destiny.
A powerful All Souls Day film is La Strada (1954), which Pope Francis called his favorite movie—an elegy of suffering, dignity, and hidden grace that mirrors Catholic themes of death, memory, and redemption.
🎬 Why La Strada Is Ideal for All Souls Day
1. A Parable of the Forgotten and the Redeemed
Gelsomina, sold by her family to the brutish Zampanò, becomes a Christ-figure—offering love, enduring abuse, and ultimately dying alone. Her life seems wasted, yet her memory transforms Zampanò, who weeps on a beach in the final scene. This echoes the All Souls Day theme: the dead are not forgotten, and their lives continue to shape the living.
2. The Fool’s Pebble: Every Life Has Meaning
Il Matto tells Gelsomina, “Even this pebble has a purpose.” This line, quoted by Pope Francis in his Easter homily, affirms the Catholic belief that no soul is useless, no suffering is wasted.
3. Gelsomina’s Vocation as Hidden Holiness
Though mocked and discarded, Gelsomina lives with childlike wonder and mercy. A nun tells her that her itinerant life resembles the sisters’ own detachment. Her suffering becomes a silent offering—a Eucharistic witness in the margins.
4. Zampanò’s Tears as Resurrection
His final breakdown is a moment of grace. Though he cannot undo his cruelty, he is changed by Gelsomina’s memory. This reflects the All Souls Day hope: that the dead intercede, and the living are still redeemable.
🕯️ Suggested Ritual for All Souls Day Viewing
- Film: La Strada (1954)
- Meal: Lentil soup, rustic bread, and red wine—evoking the road, the poor, and the blood of mercy
- Drink pairing: A small glass of limoncello—bittersweet, like memory and grace
- Ritual: After the film, invite guests to name someone they’ve lost. Light a candle for each name, and place a small stone beside it, whispering: “Even this has a purpose.”
NOVEMBER 2 Sunday-All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)
John,
Chapter 3,
Verse 35
The Father LOVES the Son and has given everything over to him.
The earth is indeed blessed among all the planets in our solar system because of our heaven. As the heavens have made the earth a garden rich with life like so is God’s grace over those who are faithful and love Him. Never forget our Lord asked Peter if he loves Him three times. One time for each of the times Peter denied our Lord on the eve of His crucifixion thus nullifying Peter’s denials and restoring him.
Christ asks Peter with each affirmation to 1) feed His lambs 2) tend His sheep and 3) feed His sheep.
First Christ asked Peter if he loves Him more than the others thus establishing Peters leadership on love. Next Christ tells Peter to feed His lambs to give them a core of strength. If we wish to develop strength in ourselves and others it is imperative that we give hope, confidence, a work ethic, confidence, resilience, self-control and courage to the lambs in our charge.
Secondly Christ asks Peter to “tend His sheep” or that is to give a firm purpose to direct their efforts to create the Kingdom of God.
Lastly Christ asks Peter to “Feed His sheep” by having an understanding heart and to be compassionate, faithful, merciful, tolerant, forgiving and generous.
Copilot’s Take
On
All Souls’ Day, the Church invites us into a sacred remembrance of those who
have gone before us in faith, resting now in the mercy of God. John 3:35
reminds us that the Father has given everything to the Son—an inheritance of
love, authority, and redemption. In this divine handing-over, we see the
fullness of Christ’s mission: to restore, to shepherd, and to raise up. Just as
Peter was restored through a threefold affirmation of love, so too are we
called to feed the lambs with strength, tend the sheep with purpose, and
nourish the flock with mercy. This day is not only a memorial—it is a
commissioning. We honor the faithful departed by continuing their legacy of
love, stewardship, and grace, becoming shepherds in our own time who prepare
the earth, that blessed garden, for the harvest of heaven.
ON
KEEPING THE LORD'S DAY HOLY[1]
CHAPTER I
DIES DOMINI
The Celebration of the Creator's Work
"In
the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" (Gn
1:1)
10.
Coming as it does from the hand of God, the cosmos bears the imprint of his
goodness. It is a beautiful world, rightly moving us to admiration and delight,
but also calling for cultivation and development. At the "completion"
of God's work, the world is ready for human activity. "On the seventh day
God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from
all his work which he had done" (Gn 2:2). With this anthropomorphic
image of God's "work", the Bible not only gives us a glimpse of the
mysterious relationship between the Creator and the created world but also
casts light upon the task of human beings in relation to the cosmos. The
"work" of God is in some ways an example for man, called not only to
inhabit the cosmos, but also to "build" it and thus become God's
"co-worker". As I wrote in my Encyclical Laborem Exercens, the
first chapters of Genesis constitute in a sense the first "gospel of
work". This is a truth which the Second Vatican Council also stressed:
"Created in God's image, man was commissioned to subdue the earth and all
it contains, to rule the world in justice and holiness, and, recognizing God as
the creator of all things, to refer himself and the totality of things to God
so that with everything subject to God, the divine name would be glorified in
all the earth".
The
exhilarating advance of science, technology and culture in their various forms
— an ever more rapid and today even overwhelming development — is the
historical consequence of the mission by which God entrusts to man and woman
the task and responsibility of filling the earth and subduing it by means of
their work, in the observance of God's Law.
All
the Faithful Departed-ALL SOULS DAY[2] is the annual
commemoration of all those souls who departed this life in the grace and favor
of God but who are still detained in purgatory. Purgatory is that third place
in the other world in which the souls of the departed suffer the temporal
punishment of those sins for which in life they have not sufficiently atoned,
and in which they are purified until they are worthy to appear in the presence
of God.
Is there a purgatory?
Yes, it is a doctrine of our faith.
1. Even under the Old Law the Jews held to this belief, and accordingly
Judas Maccabeus sent twelve thousand silver drachmas to Jerusalem to procure
the offering of sacrifices for the dead.
2. Under the New Law Jesus Christ seems toS point to such a place (Matt.
v. 26, xii. 32). The apostle Paul writes to the Corinthians: The fire shall try
every man’s work; of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide, which he hath
built thereupon [upon Christ], he shall receive a reward; if any man’s work
burn, he shall suffer loss [by the fire of purgatory], but he himself shall be
saved, yet so as by fire (i. Cor. iii. 13-15). A fire from which a man may be
saved cannot be the fire of hell; for from hell there is no redemption. The
words of St. Paul, therefore, can only be understood of purgatory.
What souls are they that go to purgatory?
The souls of all those who, though dying in the grace of God, have yet
something to atone for. Those persons dying in the grace of God are still
friends of God, and certainly God does not cast those who are His friends into
hell. It is, therefore, as suitable to the idea of God’s mercy as it is
consonant to reason that such souls should be first purified in purgatory.
How can we assist the souls suffering in purgatory?
1. By our prayers. The Holy Scripture says, it is a
holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from
sins. The Catholic Church has therefore always taught that the prayer of the
faithful for the departed is holy and wholesome.
2. By the holy sacrifice of the Mass, the fruits of
which are most beneficial to the souls in purgatory. For this reason, holy
Church has always, from the time of the apostles, remembered the dead in the
holy Mass.
3. By gaining indulgences, and other good works, by
which we supplicate God to show mercy to the souls of the suffering, to accept
what is performed by us in satisfaction for the punishment to be endured by
them, and to bring them into the kingdom of everlasting peace and light.
When and how was this yearly commemoration of the departed introduced?
The time of the introduction of this commemoration cannot be determined;
for as early as the time of Tertullian he mentions that the Christians of his
day held a yearly commemoration of the dead. Towards the end of the tenth
century St. Odo, abbot of the Benedictines, at Cluny, directed this feast to be
celebrated yearly, on the 2d of November, in all the con vents of his Order,
which usage was afterwards enjoined upon the whole Christian world by Pope John
XVI. The feast of this day was probably established in order that, after having
one day before rejoiced over the glory of the saints in heaven, we should this
day remember in love those who are sighing in purgatory for deliverance.
Prayer.
O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the souls of Thy servants departed the remission of all their sins, that, by our pious supplications, they may obtain the pardon which they have always desired.
EPISTLE, i. Cor. xv. 51-57.
Brethren: Behold I tell you a mystery: we shall all indeed rise again,
but we shall not all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at
the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise again
incorruptible: and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on
incorruption: and this mortal must put on immortality. And when this mortal
hath put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where
is thy sting? Now the sting of death is sin: and the strength of sin is the
law. But thanks be to God, Who hath given us the victory through Our Lord Jesus
Christ.
GOSPEL. John v.
25-29.
At that time Jesus said to
the multitude of the Jews: Amen, amen, I say unto you, that the hour cometh,
and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that
hear shall live. For as the Father hath life in Himself: so, He hath given to
the Son also to have life in Himself: and He hath given Him power to do
judgment, because He is the Son of man. Wonder not at this, for the hour cometh
wherein all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and
they that have done good things shall come forth unto the resurrection of life:
but they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment.
·
An
excellent book on purgatory, by Rev. F.X. Schouppe, S.J., entitled, Purgatory is worth checking out; after
the death of my own father reading, it brought me much consolation.
Visiting the Dead[3]
Families travel, often at great distance and in their best apparel, to visit the graves of friends and relatives, lighting candles, bringing flowers, and kneeling there in prayer. Processions can be conducted where the priest leads the congregation in litanies for the dead and blesses the graves with holy water. Often times these graves are decorated and groomed the week before, so that when the day of commemoration comes, everything is suitably prepared.
The "Octave" of the Dead
The Church has never instituted an octave for All
Souls' Day (though prior to 1955 it had one for All Saints' Day). Nevertheless,
popular piety has extended all of the afore-mentioned customs over an eight-day
period. The Church has encouraged this in at least one way: it grants a plenary
indulgence, under the usual conditions, to anyone who visits cemeteries from
November 1 to 8.
The Day of the Dead is also a traditional time for
penance and charity. Giving food to the poor, for
example, is a popular corporal work of mercy on All Souls' Day.
Things to Do[4]
·
Do
pious practices to help the Poor Souls: attend three Masses for the Poor Souls
on this day; remember your family and friends who are deceased and make an
extra sacrifice for them; pray the rosary for the most forgotten soul in
purgatory.
· The faithful who visit a cemetery to pray for the faithful departed, saying the Lord's Prayer and the Creed (even if only mentally), may gain a plenary indulgence once only under the usual conditions: sacramental confession (eight days before or after the act), Eucharistic Communion on that day, and prayer for the Pope's intentions (usually one Our Father and Hail Mary as minimum). Each day between November 1 and November 8, this gains a plenary indulgence that can only be applied to the poor souls in purgatory. Any other time of year this gains a partial indulgence. See Praying for the Dead and Gaining Indulgences During November for more information about indulgences for the Poor Souls.
·
There
is also solemn commemoration to be used on All Souls. See Visiting a
Cemetery on All Souls Day, Memorial Day, or on the Anniversary of Death or
Burial.
·
Make
a nice poster listing all the family and friends departed. Put this on display
where the members of the family can be reminded to pray for the loved ones
throughout November. Remind family members to offer extra prayers and
sacrifices for the poor souls in purgatory. Of course, this shouldn't be the
only motivation, but do include the fact that after these souls reach heaven,
they will intercede on your behalf.
·
Read
the Directory on
Popular Piety and the Liturgy and the section entitled "The
Memorial of the Dead in Popular Piety." Of particular note:
The Christian, who must be conscious of
and familiar with the idea of death, cannot interiorly accept the phenomenon of
the "intolerance of the dead," which deprives the dead of all
acceptance in the city of the living. Neither can he refuse to acknowledge the
signs of death, especially when intolerance and rejection encourage a flight
from reality, or a materialist cosmology, devoid of hope and alien to belief in
the death and resurrection of Christ.
Some
suggested devotions from the Directory (in accordance with time, place
and tradition, popular devotions to the dead take on a multitude of forms):
·
The
novena for the dead in preparation for 2 November, and the octave prolonging
it, should be celebrated in accordance with liturgical norms.
·
visits
to the cemetery; in some places this is done in a community manner on 2
November, at the end of the parochial mission, when the parish priest takes
possession of the parish; visiting the cemetery can also be done privately,
when the faithful go to the graves of their own families to maintain them or
decorate them with flowers and lamps. Such visits should be seen as deriving
from the bonds existing between the living and the dead and not from any form
of obligation, non-fulfilment of which involves a superstitious fear.
· membership in a confraternity or other pious association whose objects include "burial of the dead" in the light of the Christian vision of death, praying for the dead, and providing support for the relatives of the dead.
·
suffrage
for the dead through alms deeds, works of mercy, fasting, applying indulgences,
and especially prayers, such as the De profundis, and the formula Requiem aeternam [Eternal Rest],
which often accompanies the recitation of the Angelus, the rosary, and at
prayers before and after meals.
·
Have
family discussions about death, preparing for death, funerals, and the
Sacrament of the Sick. Visit the cemetery with children. Visits to the cemetery
should be uplifting, calm and peaceful, not a scary event.
·
From
the Catholic Culture library:
o
Mystery of God's
Justice and Mercy
For
many more documents search the library for "purgatory."
·
In
many places this day centers around the family departed and the cemetery.
Families go to gravesites, clean them, decorate them, add candles. This can be
an all-day affair, with picnics and celebration. Of particular note is the Dia
de los Muertos or the Day of the Dead, celebration in Mexico on November 2.
One could say this is the "Mexican Halloween." For more information
on this Catholic holiday, see Mexico Connect for a variety of
links for information. Please note that as with many holidays, there is much
commercialism and secularism.
Deeply rooted cultural elements connoting particular anthropological concepts are to be found among the customs and usages connected with the "cult of the dead" among some peoples. These often spring from a desire to prolong family and social links with the departed. Great caution must be used in examining and evaluating these customs. Care should be taken to ensure that they are not contrary to the Gospel. Likewise, care should be taken to ensure that they cannot be interpreted as pagan residues.
More All Souls’
Day Top Events and Things to Do[5]
·
Visit
the cemetery where your loved ones are buried and light a candle. This is
exactly what the holiday is meant to celebrate, and it is also very common for
people to do on All Souls’ Day.
·
Watch
a movie about All Souls’ Day or Christianity. Some of our favorites are: All
Soul’s Day (2005), Passion of the Christ (2004), and Raising
the Undead (2006).
·
Spread
awareness on social media by using the hashtag #AllSoulsDay, #HonourTheDead
and #HeavenAwaits.
·
Create
an alter in memory of a loved one. This can be done within your home and
typically uses pictures of the person, candles, flowers and any other
sentimental pieces.
·
Prepare
a meal in memory of a deceased family member. In many countries, it is
customary to prepare this meal and it is believed that the dead return to
consume the food.
All Souls' Day (November 2nd) Bread
& Pastry[6]
Baking
special breads in honor of the souls in Purgatory is an ancient custom. All
Souls' Bread or Pastry varies in name, content, and shape depending on
country and ethnicity. The All-Souls’ pastry in northern Spain, for example, is
called "bones of the holy" (Huesos de Santo), while the one in
Catalonia is referred to as "little breads" (Panellets). In
central Europe the All-Souls’ cakes that are shaped like hares are distributed
to little boys while the ones that are shaped like hens are given to little girls.
A similar custom in western Europe involves the preparing of Soul Food,
cooked beans or peas or lentils, which are then served with some sort of meat
dish. Though many of these culinary practices have a pagan origin (cults of the
dead, fertility rites, etc.), they have been converted to good Christian use.
Instead of bribing malevolent spirits or "feeding" departed love
ones, these comestibles quietly remind us of those who no longer grace our
dinner tables but with whom we one day hope to be united again at the eternal
banquet. Further, there is a laudable custom in which the food that would have
gone to feeding one's dearly departed is instead distributed to the poor.
Hungarian Catholics once even invited orphan children into their homes on All
Saints' and All Souls' Day and gave them new clothes and toys along with
generous meals.
The Dogma of Purgatory is too much forgotten by the majority of the faithful; the Church Suffering, where they have so many brethren to succor, whither they foresee that they themselves must one day go, seems a strange land to them. This truly deplorable forgetfulness was a great sorrow to St. Francis de Sales. “Alas!” said this pious doctor of the Church, “we do not sufficiently remember our dear departed; their memory seems to perish with the sound of the funeral bells.” The principal causes of this are ignorance and lack of faith; our notions on the subject of Purgatory are too vague, our faith is too feeble. In order, then, that our ideas may become more distinct, and our faith enlivened, we must take a closer view of this life beyond the tomb, this intermediate state of the just souls, not yet worthy to enter the Heavenly Jerusalem.
Bible in a Year Day 120 David mourns Saul
Today we begin two new books as we read 2 Samuel 1, 1 Chronicles 1, and Psalm 13. Fr. Mike shows us how nothing in scripture is wasted space, and also points out how, through God's grace, we can move past the things that have hurt us.
Daily Devotions
·
Today's
Fast: Unite in the work of the Porters of St.
Joseph
by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: The Pope
·
Litany of the Most Precious Blood
of Jesus
·
Offering to the
sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
[2]
Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896
[7]
Schouppe S.J., Rev. Fr. F. X.. Purgatory Explained (with Supplemental Reading:
What Will Hell Be Like?)
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