So Many Lights on Halloween

Days of great significance cause us to anticipate them more and desire to celebrate them longer. Many towns set off fireworks the weekend before the 4th of July or the days prior to extend the celebration. We start listening to Christmas music well before December 25th, and we have parties all before and even after. Great feast days and holy days/holidays are prolonged, even Halloween. But what are we even celebrating at Halloween?

    Certainly Halloween is a fun time eating candy and dressing up. There is something exciting about it and maybe it is just because we all get to be like children once again. There is the aspect of “playing” and “pretending” which helps us to enter into life with a different perspective and depth, whether we realize it or not, and to top it off people (strangers!) give us candy. My best/ Halloween costume was being Squints from The Sandlot. It was great! It is my favorite movie and I wish I could live just like those kids in The Sandlot by playing ball all day and just being a child. But, while it was fun it doesn’t seem to be enough. It was about me and it seemed to be fake.

However, October 31 was set to be Halloween by a pope in the 700s to be more than that. It was chosen because November 1 is All Saints Day. You can research or even YouTube answers to what is Halloween and you will most likely find controversial opinions but here is a clip that can help explain some questions or concerns on Halloween while giving the history of it.

Through Halloween we get to remember the strength and victory of God in the midst of our evil and fakeness. We get to prepare for All Saints’ Day and remember great witnesses to the faith. They shine as great lights for us in how to imitate Christ.

Saints come in all forms. Some became well known in their life and went “viral” as everyone talked about them and still does on their feast days, but some were simple and unknown until after their death. Because, with the saints it is not pretending to be something or gaining popularity, but rather it is about allowing Christ’s love to transform us and make us into Himself.

It might be hard to celebrate All Saints’ Day because of the immensity of the saints. There are so many to think of and yet none are named specifically on that day. Yet it is good that we don’t know any specifically because really it is not about them. It is about God. So enjoy Halloween in preparation for a great day. A day that we celebrate an accomplishment that we all seek. May we ask the multitude of saints to help shine a light on our path to heaven.

"Be Not Afraid"

After last week’s canonizations, this week had a lot to live up to. Thankfully we have so many things to celebrate in the Catholic Church! For instance, this past Monday we celebrated the feast of Saint John Paul II. What a day that was! For me the day couldn’t have been any better. It was a beautiful day start to finish, but especially the finish.

Monday evening I was praying in adoration up until reposition (the closing of adoration). I stuck around longer to pray some more and as I sat there reflecting on the day and my future, my campus chaplain walked over to me and handed me a little picture card of John Paul II that had a relic. I was so honored and blessed. It was such a gift and reminded me of his intercession. When I was little I used to wear a bracelet that said John Paul II “Be not afraid” which reminded me to have faith in God. So too this relic was a reminder to continue to trust in God and not be afraid.

Prayer Card with relic I received

So many other people were impacted in some way by JPII during his life and long papacy, and even to this day. He had a real capacity to love and it was obvious that he was a saint. My siblings, parents, grandparents, and friends all have a love for him as person with great faith especially in a time of such need. There are countless stories to tell about him as he faced many trials: the death of family members at a young age, the Nazis, and an attempted assassination on his life to name a few. He also was an exciting and engaging person as he was active skiing, playing sports, and ministering to people in that way while being a real light in times of darkness. He knew how impactful communication can be around sports and activities.

Not only did he possess and experience those trials and joys, he ultimately strived wholeheartedly for holiness. The many first hand stories I have heard of people encountering him have described the great love they felt as he merely gazed upon them and smiled. I get so excited talking about him and especially seeing how all types of people light up when they hear his name. It makes me wonder what was so different about him and how we can imitate him as he imitated Christ. Although most of it is a mystery that can be explained simply by grace, I know we can learn a couple of things from him.

One, John Paul II loved the Eucharist. He loved it with his whole being because he knew that it was Jesus’ body and blood, truly and most fully. JPII would find any hidden tabernacle. One story that illustrates this is from his visit to the US. His schedulers describe this encounter at the seminary in Baltimore as the doors of the chapel were closed and there was nothing to make anyone think there was a chapel yet JPII knew exactly where the Eucharist was and opened the door to adore the Lord. He immediately entered deep prayer as every encounter with Christ he treasured. Thus he threw off the schedule in typical "Wojtyla" fashion (his birth name was Karol Wojtyla)!

Two, he loved his mother Mary. He relied on her throughout his life as he lost his earthly mother at a young age, yet on May 13, 1981. On the anniversary of the Marian apparition at Fatima, JPII was shot in an attempted assassination. Surely the bullet should have killed him from the angle and distance, but miraculously it didn’t. John Paul II professed, “One hand fired the shot. Another guided it”  in reference to Mary’s intervention. From that point, John Paul II surrendered all, even his papacy to Mary and showed the whole Church to do likewise.

Thus be not afraid of following Jesus wholeheartedly by devotion to the Eucharist through the intercession of Mary.

New Friends! ... 7 of them!

Seven new saints were canonized on Sunday! Seven! That is seven new intercessors for us to pray to. Seven new examples to look to. Seven new means of great graces. The seven new saints are St. Paul VI, St. Oscar Romero, St. Vincent Romano, St. Francesco Spinelli, St. Nunzio Sulprizio, St. Nazaria Ignacia March Mesa, and St. Maria Katharina Kasper. They have incredible stories! The stories are so encouraging, inspiring, and impactful. While at the same time, some of the stories highlight the simple things that we are called to do, to pour Christ’s love into these little things to make them extraordinary.

It is an incredible witness to realize that people who lived in a time so close to us are now saints. They prove that holiness is possible. Who doesn’t want to be a saint? A saint is someone who is in heaven, so I think we all want to be saints. Hopefully we all desire it, but it is also common to  have misconstrued concepts of what being a saint is. We might think it is simply unobtainable or all for the glory of ourselves. It is hard to understand, but I think even through this we realize it is a good that we desire and should work towards.

   

One of the new saints stuck out to me as I did not know anything about them prior to this week. I had heard of Pope Paul VI and his work as well as Oscar Romero, but I had never heard of the others. One that really stuck out was St. Nunzio Sulprizio.

   

St. Nunzio Sulprizio grew up with a tough family background. He lost both parents and was exploited by his uncle who raised him. He lost both of his legs to gangrene, and eventually died at the age of 19 from bone cancer after he spent his life caring for others who were sick and suffering. How did this man who didn’t even reach the age of 20 and suffered greatly become someone we know worldwide? He suffered all for and with Christ. St. Nunzio Sulprizio said, “Jesus suffered a lot for me. Why should I not suffer for Him? I would die in order to convert even one sinner.” How beautiful! At the same time, how hard it is to understand that.

   

I used to always think that being afflicted with some disease or illness would be my ticket to sainthood, but now as I have been given small burdens of injuries or illnesses I see it is not an easy path. While it can give us a new perspective and understanding of our dependence on God, it is also easy in these times to wallow in our self pity, to seek other people to pamper us, or just complain.

   

    But, our burdens are paths to Jesus. It does not have to be anything big, but whatever it is we are to carry it well. We get to participate in the sacrifice Jesus made on the Christ which brought about our redemption. St. Nunzio realized this as an act of true love, something that stems from a real relationship with Jesus. We can be so close to Jesus! So every stubbed toe, paper cut, feeling of cold, annoyance of anything, detest for doing work, or insult we are given is a chance to offer it up, like St. Nunzio Sulprizio, for the conversion of souls in order to bring about salvation for all with Jesus Christ.

Dear Jesus please help us never lose an opportunity to help another eternal soul.

St. Paul VI, St. Oscar Romero, St. Vincent Romano, St. Francesco Spinelli, St. Maria Katharina Kasper, St. Nazaria Ignacia March Mesa, and St. Nunzio Sulprizio  PRAY for US.

Angels in Our Field

One of the greatest things about being a Catholic is the simplicity of the faith. It is so beautiful. While this at times is difficult, it often times is meant to be a simple thing. Jesus called his followers to be like children! That is something attainable for all of us.

A belief that we have that often reminds me to be like a child, is the belief in angels. This past Tuesday, October 2, we celebrated the feast of the guardian angels, and before that on Saturday, September 29, we celebrated the feast of the archangels. What great days! These angels are really some of our greatest advocates, and the sad thing is we don’t even appreciate them. Sometimes when I think of angels, I get a good laugh out of the first image in my head: Angels in the Outfield. While this film may not be the most theologically accurate representation or realistic, it still portrays how angels are with us all of the time. They are with the characters throughout the movie to help bring about good, provide protection, and they are there to guide the characters. One child is able to see the angels and pleads for people to believe and have faith. Eventually the belief is accepted which helps them to act with confidence. You can see how the belief of angels transforms people just in this clip:

If we allow ourselves to strip away our pridefulness, independence, and strength, we see our true self. We are broken human beings that are incapable of doing anything on our own. We need God! Thanks be to God, that He loves us in such a way that He provides so great a means to help us to be brought closer to Him. We literally have angels to help us.

We are not alone! There are so many beings that are with us to help us, guide us, and protect us. When we are children we often are taught all about these angels and saints, and we believe it! But then what happens to us? We forget they are there. How unfortunate! We are each assigned a guardian angel, and we are constantly surrounded by many more. Just think how different we would act if we just trusted. At each Mass there are hosts of angels present adoring the Lord, as well as at every tabernacle. It is so hard to imagine but we must allow ourselves to let go of our human reasoning, just a bit, in order to begin to understand. Then we will be transformed

In the Bible, several people are recorded to have been visited by angels. These angels were seen as people of God. There was awe and fear upon an encounter. People thought they would die from that instance, but rather their lives were transformed by this encounter. People like Mary, Jesus’ own mother, accepted great gifts and forever were set apart for God. To think that we each already have a guardian angel means we too are set apart for God. Let us not forget!

Angel of God

My guardian dear

To Whom His love

Commits me here

Ever this day

Be at my side

To light and guard

  To rule and guide. Amen