The Feast of All Saints Day - 1 November
This Sunday the Catholic community celebrates the Feast of All Saints Day. The Gospel reading for the weekend masses was the well-known story of “The Beatitudes” (Matthew 5:1-12).
During Pope Francis’ 2018 All Saints Day address, he stated that we are called "to seek holiness not by accomplishing extraordinary things but by following the path of the Beatitudes in everyday life". He proclaimed that:
"We are united not only with the saints of the calendar but also with our 'next door' saints - our relatives and acquaintances who are now part of that immense multitude. All Saints Day is a family feast, because the saints, our truest brothers and sisters, love us, know what is our true good, help us, await us and want us to be happy with them in heaven."
The Beatitudes challenge us to do better and be better, spurred on by the saints, cheering us on from the sidelines so that we choose to live our lives more humbly, more mercifully and more peacefully. May we be inspired by the saints and those who have gone before us to live our lives as “next door saints” in accordance with the message of the Beatitudes and the words of Pope Francis.
All Saints and All Souls Day prayer
At this time each year, we focus on the great communion of saints:
- On All Saints Day, the wonderful company of saints we know as part of the reality of our Catholic tradition.
- On All Souls Day, all those who have died – friends, colleagues, relatives, others whom we have known, worked with, laughed with, wept with and walked with.
Many of them are not famous. Their statues are not in churches, but their pictures are in our homes and their stories alive in our community, and in us. We know of their goodness and their struggles. We now pray for them, and remember them with love, celebrating in their journey to God, now within the great communion of saints.
Prayer for World Teacher’s Day - 30 October
Loving God, we thank you for the teachers who are shaping the lives of the students in their care. We value the role they play in our society and hope they feel loved and supported. We thank them for their selfless dedication to the vocation of teaching.
We pray for their welfare, so they have the strength and courage to stay strong when it may sometimes feel too difficult and challenging. We pray that our teachers continue to find joy in their work so that they can bring the best of themselves to work each day.
God of Justice, help and support teachers in their special calling, wherever they teach and whatever obstacles they must face.
We pray these things in the name of our great teacher, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Dr Helen Haines (MP)
Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO, Adjunct Professor of Thomas More Law School at ACU and Adjunct Research Professor at the Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, in his homily last Sunday reflects on the devastating attack on Helen Haines.
Read the homily via this link.