Hope beyond dreams as November brings out the best in people
by Fr. Padraig Standun
COMING up to Halloween, the thoughts of many people in various cultures around the world turn to what is known as the month of the dead.
Many great South American novels are based around the theme.
Among the things that have impressed me in almost 50 years in the priesthood is the respect people have for their dead.
November brings out the best in people in this regard.
Despite the early nightfall, the comfort of the fire and the range of choices on television, people still remember their loved ones, honour them and pray for them.
The church concept of ‘communion of saints’ means that people consider living and dead still part of the same family.
Love does not end with death. Living and dead can help each other out; can pray for each other, wish each other well.
We can reach across the divide by imaginative prayer. We can bring our loved ones who are gone to life in our minds and imaginations, sit them down, and ask God to care for them.
Some people think any talk of death is morbid, but it is above all a recognition of one of the more obvious and important facts of life.
Death has had a 100% success rate down through the centuries, and there is no sign of that changing anytime soon.
We can postpone it but we can’t avoid it. Money, fame, religious belief or the lack of it, all are no protections against death. It has to be faced at some stage or other.
We don’t need to get obsessive about it or hung up on it, just be prepared to face up to it. Most of us would like to postpone death for another while but the older we get, the surer we are that we have to face it sooner rather than later.
One of the advantages of Halloween is that it gives us a chance to cock a snoot at death as darkness descends and nights grow longer.
People have the chance to poke fun at the greatest darkness of them all, to say that we are not scared. Well, not too scared. We are prepared to deal with it when it comes our way.
Children enjoying the festival of course don’t know or don’t need to know the centuries of history behind Halloween.
Basically it seems to be a recognition that death is a natural part of life. Just as the leaves fall, so will we, but growth and renewal will come again.
The one exception Christians see to death’s 100% success rate is the man hung out to die on a Friday cross about 2,000 years ago, whom we claim to have defied and defeated death.
We make the outrageous claim that Jesus turned death on its head and made eternal life possible.
Little enough consolation maybe in a time of pandemic, but for those of us getting on in years it promises hope beyond our dreams.