Dear Parishioner and Friend of the Sunday Mass,
In recent weeks, I have thought a lot about Carl, my very first best friend. Carl lived around the corner from me. He was a year young than I and he had a few disabilities and challenges. However, he was a kind and gentle person and a very good friend. Well, to make a long story short, Carl died on Easter Monday in 1960. He was only six years old at the time, I was only seven.
It was a very difficult time in my life, as a child I did not understand. I did not realize that “Life had [only] changed, not ended”, as the line goes from the Preface for the Mass of the Dead. However, over the years, since Carl’s death, I have come to believe that the spirit of Carl is with me, wherever I go and in whatever I do, and that is of great comfort. Remembering his spirit, his faithfulness, his friendship continues to be important to me. The celebration of All Souls’ Day gives me an opportunity to remember my good friend once again.
For those of you who have lost loved ones or friends recently I know that it is not an easy time. You might hear kind words from people but the emotions of their passing for you linger on. I offer you my prayers and a simple opportunity to remember them.
As you know here at The Sunday Mass we remember deceased loved ones in our intentions each Sunday when we celebrate the Eucharist. The memorial of Christ’s Passion, Death and Resurrection is the perfect celebration in which to call to mind the eternal communion of saints in which our loved ones now participate. The lives of those who have gone before us continue to inspire us and call us beyond ourselves to a higher place. Let us honor their lives by joining our prayers with theirs.
On November 2nd, All Souls’ Day, we will remember all our deceased loved ones in a special way. Here at The Sunday Mass we will be remembering our viewers’ deceased loved ones on that day and on all the Sundays of the Month of November. We know how important it is to bring the circle of love that we share with those who have gone before us into the Sunday celebration of the Eucharist. As we pray for them, we know that they also pray for us.
We invite you to send us the names of those you wish us to remember and pray for on All Souls’ Day and throughout the Sundays of November. Please write their names on the lines below and mail them back to us. We will put them in the basket next to the altar during The Sunday Mass. This will be a visible sign of the people we hold so dear to our hearts.
Thank you for your continued participation in and support of The Sunday Mass. God bless your generosity and commitment!
Please accept the enclosed Prayer Card as a token of our thanks and appreciation.
Peace in Christ’s Passion,
Fr. Paul R. Fagan, C.P.
Executive Producer and Host of The Sunday Mass
All Souls’ Day Prayer
O God of the living and the dead, the helper of the helpless, the hope of those who are past hope, the savior of the tempest-tossed, the harbor of the voyagers, the physician of the sick. You know each soul and our prayer, each home and its need. Become to each one of us what we most dearly desire. Pour on us your peace and love as we remember all our departed sisters and brothers this day and always. O Lord our God. Amen. (Adapted from a prayer of the Orthodox Liturgy of St. Basil)