Daily Gospel Reflection
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October 31, 2019
Some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.”
He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.’”
The passage invites us to think more about the significance of Jesus’ life, his death, and the role we play in continuing Jesus’ mission in our everyday lives.
The specter of death hangs over Jesus in today’s gospel, yet Jesus uses this opportunity to make it clear that even death is a part of his mission. When he hears the Pharisees’ warning, he reacts with sorrow, not fear, raising up a lament for Jerusalem, the city which always kills the prophets sent to it.
This passage challenges us to consider whether our lives lead appropriately to Jesus’ cross in our own communities. Can we find meaning in our lives as part of God’s greater mission and do good in our own corners of the world? Do threats from earthly rulers frighten us from our own missions? Are we recognizing the human dignity of all people?
This is a very fitting reading as we enter the “Days of the Dead” in the Mexican and Latin American traditions. During these days, we remember with great fondness all our loved ones who have passed away. Dia de los Muertos, like Jesus himself, recognizes death as part of our journey. The colorful celebration is a way of continuing to share the lives of those who have departed. The celebration coincides with All Saints Day and All Souls Day in the Catholic liturgical calendar and begins today, on the eve of All Saints Day. It is a time of prayer and great festivity. Families set up altars with ofrendas (offerings) for their dead loved ones as a way to commemorate their lives and to continue to help them on their spiritual paths.
On this Day of the Dead, the Hispanic Alumni of Notre Dame invites you to remember your loved ones by leaving photos or memories of them on our digital ofrenda on the FaithND facebook page.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, you long for us to be united with you in love, yet all too often we choose to turn away from you because of persecution and suffering. Strengthen us to trust in you and joyfully follow your will, despite earthly trials. We ask this in your name. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Halloween might be the second largest secular holiday, but it is a holiday that is also distinctly Christian in origin.
October 31st is also known as All Hallows’ Eve—the “eve” before All Saints Day, or “all hallows.” That term, “hallowed,” means “holy”—as in in the English translation of the Our Father prayer, in which we declare God’s name to be “hallowed.” October 31st marks the beginning of "Allhallowtide" which concludes with November 2nd, the feast of All Souls.
This holiday stems from pagan and Christian influences. Halloween traditions bear many similarities to the Gaelic harvest festival, Samhain, which is perhaps responsible for its current place in the calendar at the height of autumn.
For most of Catholic history, important feast days were marked by a vigil celebration the night before, similar to celebrations contemporary Christians currently hold on Christmas Eve and the liturgical celebration of the Easter Vigil. All Hallows’ Eve was the evening celebration commencing the feast of All Saints Day. Its place in the calendar is also certainly due to the development of the All Saints' day celebration, which developed separately from harvest festivals.
Ever since the veneration of martyrs began during the earliest centuries of Christianity, Christians have honored holy men and women who have died. The first church buildings that were not homes were shrines called martyria, built above the tomb of a martyr, where the local community prayed for that saint's intercession. An overwhelming amount of early Christian practice was focused around a particular person and their following of Christ into death and resurrection. The early Christian communities gathered around Christ's paschal mystery in the celebration of the Eucharist, but their communities were quite literally grounded in the witness of their brothers and sisters in faith—built upon those men and women who had completely handed over their lives to Christ.
Eventually, after many centuries of persecution, there were many Christian martyrs whose names were lost. Thus, a feast of all martyrs was established the Sunday after Pentecost. On May 13 of 609, Pope Boniface IV obtained the Pantheon in Rome from Emperor Phocas, and he dedicated the Pantheon to the Blessed Virgin Mary and All Martyrs. Nearly one hundred and fifty years later, Pope Gregory III dedicated a new chapel in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome to “the Redeemer, his holy Mother, all the apostles, martyrs, and confessors, and all the just and perfect who are at rest throughout the whole world” on May 13, 732. Thus, the feast of All Saints was born.
In the ninth century, Pope Gregory IV moved the feast of All Saints from May 13 to November 1, largely out of consideration for the many pilgrims traveling to Rome for the festival. During the hot month of May, the pilgrims experienced hardship from the sweltering Italian heat, so the Pope translated the festival to a cooler time of year. In some locations, it seems as though November 1st was chosen as a means of appropriating harvest festivals such as Samhain. As their pagan neighbors celebrated the spirits of the departed and mischievous supernatural spirits, the Christians feted their predecessors in the faith and prayed for their intercession.
Many of today’s Halloween customs come from the harvest festival traditions and Christian traditions that developed in tandem around Allhallowtide. In Europe in those days, the faithful rang bells for souls in purgatory and baked cakes known as “soul cakes.” Poorer families, most often, the children, would visit households to collect these cakes. Some traditions credit the development of jack-o'-lanterns to the custom of lighting lamps to guide souls to the afterlife or to purgatory.
After the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, these All Hallow's Eve traditions waned on the European continent but continued in other places, like the Celtic nations of Scotland and Ireland. Thus, when Scottish and Irish immigrants came to America, they brought with them traditional "Hallowe'en" practices, which many of their American neighbors also embraced.
One of the murals in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart on Notre Dame's campus presents us with a vision of heaven that awaits all those in purgatory. This image shows Mary and Jesus attending to Joseph at his deathbed as choirs of angels in heaven await his soul.
On the feast of All Hallows’ Eve, let us pray for all the souls of the faithful departed!