Daily Gospel Reflection
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October 31, 2023
Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like?
To what can I compare it?
It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden.
When it was fully grown, it became a large bush
and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.”
Again he said, “To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God?
It is like yeast that a woman took
and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch of dough was leavened.”
Reflection
What comforting images Jesus gives us in these parables! A strong flourishing bush, providing shade and protection; a batch of dough ready to be baked into a nourishing loaf of fragrant bread. Both originate from something ordinary and seemingly insignificant. Jesus, who came into this world as a tiny, seemingly insignificant baby from Nazareth—an unimpressive little town—is showing his disciples what is essential to focus on in this life.
The disciples’ lives, even with Jesus alongside them as their teacher, friend, and mentor, were uncertain. Their community of believers was still small. They faced disdain from religious leaders, suspicion from neighbors skeptical of their message, and pain and confusion from family members who may have felt abandoned. At times, the kingdom of God must have felt far away and unattainable.
We have the benefit of knowing how their work turned out, yet we also need reminders of where to place our focus. Jesus is the kingdom of God, present on Earth. A few chapters later, in Luke 17:21, we read, “the Kingdom of God is within us.” At baptism, we’re sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever. Like the bush and the bread in this parable, these are comforting images worthy of gratitude and praise.
May we all live today confident in God’s love, focused on the all-encompassing kingdom of God, knowing God uses the small and seemingly insignificant to do amazing works.
Prayer
Dear Lord, when time drags on, and prayers go unanswered, when our hard work seems so futile, when we wonder what difference we’re making, remind us of the mustard seed. Though it appears so insignificant, so incapable of bringing forth life, we know it finds its purpose and serves magnificently. Bless us with great possibilities and increase our faith in your presence in all we do. 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!