It's slipping deeper into the heart of November.
Liturgically, we are plunging into the heart of all-things-Extreme: Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell. The four dimensions of our absolute-future where God will bring to definitive judgment every nanosecond of human and angelic - cosmic! - history. In other words, November reminds us to always keep the Big Picture before us.
St. Jerome loved to quote the Proverbs text, 'Keep death ever before you, and do not sin.' Morbid? No. Realistic? Yes. The Gift of Knowledge that we receive in the sacrament of Conformation imparts to us an intuitive grasp of this vantage, helping us see each moment of life (and each choice of each moment) as decisive: "Would I be proud to have this moment be my last as I enter the presence of Christ?"
You might say this transforms the 'eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die' into, 'Eat, Drink, and be merciful for tomorrow we die'.
November also calls us to pray with exceptional fervor for the souls in Purgatory. Purgatory is all-too-often sidelined in our devotional life, which is a tragic wound in the communion of saints that is Christ's Body. Indeed, it is no charity toward our departed neighbors to assume they do not need our prayers. Such is a form of forgetfulness, which is a rejection of the Christian virtue of remembrance. Remembrance can include periodically honoring the burial sites of our beloved dead, telling the good of their life-story to inspire others and sustain communion with them, or praying for them (especially in the celebration of the Eucharist) that God will complete their healing and purifying and speed them to the full vision of His glory.
Love is stronger than death.
November is the time we begin to re-stir our yearning for Christ's coming again in glory, and so is also a preparation for Advent's intensive yearning.
Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus.
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So we live near a cemetery and pass by it frequently. Except for the occasional tent (funeral) it might as well be a flag farm (May) or wreath farm (Dec) because all of the markers are flat! We pray for the poor souls buried there, but it's hard to get a sense of just how many people are there.
ReplyDeleteBut once a month we pass by a HUGE old cemetery on University, east of St. T's. How striking!
I tell the kids every time we pass by that one there is no problem you have that someone, or lots of someones, haven't had. Even technology! Even in the old days they had problems with technology! (Darn this wagon wheel! Flat again!)
Sadly, there are some there who allowed themselves to be defeated by these problems -- these problems they share with you -- and died bitter,and are still bitter.
But there are others who used their problems -- these problems they share with you -- as a moment of grace, and allowed God to work in their lives. Ask these people to pray for you! They understand.
This is a really striking thing to think about when you pass by acres of gravestones. It's easier to think, "yeah, I bet there is someone out there who had this problem."
One month I didn't say anything and I heard from the back of the van, "Mom, say that thing you always say when we go by here."