Celebrating All Saints and All Souls

Nov 24, 2017

By Patrick Gerard Au
The Parish of St Anthony celebrated All Saints Day on Nov 1 (celebration of our Christian call and mission to be “builders of eternity”) and All Souls Day on Nov 2 (celebration of our Christian Faith and Hope)

Parish priest, Fr Francis Xavier, shared the story of a woman who had died and was waiting at the gates of Heaven. She peeped through the gates and saw a big gathering of her friends and relatives enjoying themselves. When St Peter came out, she asked, “How am I to get into Heaven?” St Peter answered: “Can you spell LOVE for me?” She spelt LO- V-E and she was allowed into Heaven. One day, St Peter was very busy and asked her to guard the gate. She noticed a man running to the front of the gate. It was her husband. She asked him, “What can I do for you?” He answered, “How can I go in there?” She asked him to spell “Czechoslovakia.” To get into Heaven is more than whether we have spelling skills or not. It is whether we love God and love our neighbours.

On All Souls Day, Fr Francis told of a famous Mexican saying that goes: We have to face three deaths in our life. 1) When our soul leaves the body. 2) When our lifeless body is lowered into the grave and 3) When we are forgotten by our relatives and friends after our death. The first death is God’s call, the second death is Nature’s call and third death is Human’s call. The most painful death is to be forgotten forever by our friends and relatives. Because of the third death, the Church established All Souls Day in 998 AD.

These two feasts show the world what Catholics profess in the Apostles Creed during Mass, that is the “Communion of Saints” and “Living and Dying”.