I have reflected a lot on my deceased loved ones during this month of All Souls. I remember an episode when my mother asked me to pick up a cheeseburger for her when I went to Kidd Valley at Coulon Park in Renton. For some selfish reason I didn’t. That was one of my first recollections when she died in 1999. I relived the guilt. And yet because she is among the communion of saints she is still alive and is linked to me in such a way that I can continue to talk to her, that my relationship with her can continue to grow, and that reconciliation over an undelivered burger can occur. Yes, our deceased loved ones are still with us. Death washes some things clean. This is not the stuff of fantasy, but of solid dogma. We know its truth because we experience it.
This weekend we welcome our founding pastor Fr. Jack Walmesley who will preside at all three masses and hear confessions on Saturday. May our gracious God bless him in every way.