FROM THE PASTOR'S DESK……

ALL SOULS DAY 2003

November 2, 2003

Dear Fellow Parishioners,

Have you ever heard of Judas Maccabeus?  He lived in the second century before the coming of Jesus.  He belonged to the Maccabee Family.  In the Old Testament Book of 2 Maccabees, Chapter 12, Verses 38-46, we are told about a collection he took up among his fellow soldiers to be sent to the Temple in Jerusalem to have an expiatory sacrifice offered for some of his comrades who had been killed in battle.  We are told by the Scripture writer that he did this because he believed in the resurrection --- that he would one day see them again.  His idea of having prayers offered for his dead companions in the words of Scripture "...was a holy and pious thought.  Thus he made atonement for the dead that they might be freed from their sins."  (See 2 Maccabees 12: 45-46)

You and I have an even better atonement to offer for our beloved dead --- the sacrifice of the Mass --- which is nothing else than the re-enactment of Jesus' sacrifice on Calvary.  As the writer of the New Testament Letter to the Hebrews put it: "For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of a heifer's ashes can sanctify those who were defiled so that their flesh is cleansed, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences…"  (See Hebrews 9: 13-14)

Isn't it wonderful to know that not even death can separate us from the love of Christ!  Don't forget to remember the Holy Souls this November.  Special envelopes are available.  List the names of those you would like to be remembered at all the Masses during November and they'll be kept on the altar the entire month.  On the day of the resurrection, they'll thank you personally.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Rev. Raymond J. Tintle, OFM
Pastor