Twilight Twitches

Dear Family,
This year, because November 1st, the Feast of All Saints, falls on a Monday, it is NOT a holy Day of Obligation. On Monday and on Tuesday, All Souls Day, we will have our normal 8:30 a.m. Mass.

We will begin our annual All Souls Novena for our deceased family members and friends on Tuesday, the 2nd and celebrate that Novena through November 10th.

Of course, today, is Halloween, the Day before All Saints.

One of the longest entries I’ve seen in Wikipedia is the one on Halloween. For me it sure fell under the heading of too much info. A lot of it was pretty interesting, however. I was looking for a little history on costumes, etc. Customs change and vary from country to country. Whoever thought that in our times maybe the happiest people around at Halloween are dentists. (I don’t think Dr. Laura Evatt would agree.)

Dear Family,
JOURNEYING TOGETHER Those words grace the logo for the Synod in the Archdiocese of Miami.

‘Journey’ describes the adventure all of us are on as a part of the Church of Miami, and indeed, as a part of the worldwide Church. We launch ourselves into “Synodal Mode.”

I say adventure. Adventure might seem an odd word to use about the Synod process. Over the centuries the word took on a lot of nuances but one expres¬sion of the meaning I found, said it very well for me: “... a remarkable occurrence in one's life." I sure hope so. I pray this experience reveals in each of us, and to each of us, a new depth of understanding about what it means to be “Church.”

Dear Family,
Last week I wrote about the Synod which Pope Francis has called. Like many other synods he has called, the synod is a gathering of many bishops who come from around the world representing their own bishops’ conferences. However, as I mentioned last week, this Synod is unusual because the subject matter is the process of a synod itself.

In each diocese Pope Francis asked that there be a diocesan synod that begins on the grass roots level, namely us, the parish.

The idea is that what is generated at the parish and diocesan levels ultimately makes its way to the “Synod on Synodality.” In other words, the ultimate question that gets asked is what’s happening with God’s people all over the world and do we have the best means available of hearing their needs and then meeting those needs.

Dear Family,
Let’s celebrate St. Francis of Assisi by blessing the animals. Right. That was the intent for last Monday, and we pulled it off... pretty much. The animals showed up, mostly great dogs and a couple of cats who doubtless were wondering what on earth they had gotten into. All went well.

Even Honey, the office ruler, was a perfect hostess. Sadly, the pizza folk, who shall remain nameless, turned out to be the only glitch and we went pizza-less. I may never know why. That probably worked for my waistline, but I hope our kids and parents weren’t too disappointed.

Having that special little gathering meant a lot since we have been devoid of moments like that for so long. Speaking of gathering...

There is an unfamiliar word working its way into our vocabulary, and its going to be there for the next couple of years. The word is “Synod.”