Father's Notebook - November 5, 2019

Greetings brothers and sisters!

I hope all is well with you. The last weekend was full of celebrations with All Saints, All Souls and Sunday. In the month of November, it has always been traditionally a month to remember the dead and to pray for them. Let us continue to keep our loved ones in our prayers this month.

This week and the following week, a group of parishioners are on a pilgrimage in Italy. In many ways, pilgrimages are excellent opportunities to deepen our faith. The people of God in the Old Testament would often take annual pilgrimages to Jerusalem to offer prayer and sacrifices. Earlier Christians would also go on foot to see various holy sites and places where saints lived. Although much more commercialized, taking pilgrimages is still very alive today.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says,

“Pilgrimages evoke our earthly journey toward heaven and are traditionally very special occasions for renewal in prayer. For pilgrims seeking living water, shrines are special places for living the forms of Christian prayer ‘in Church.’ (CCC 2691)”

Our entire life is a pilgrimage towards the Holy of Holies in Heaven. There is a real parallel of embarking on a journey of uncertainty and trust to encounter to the living God. In our daily life, it is possible to take “mini-pilgrimages” to the Blessed Sacrament. To leave the comforts of our homes and make the journey to Jesus present in the Church can remind us of the reality that we are not meant to live on this earth forever as we are now. We are all suppose to be making our way towards God, side by side with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

May we persevere on this pilgrimage of life and all arrive in Heaven together.

You are in my prayers, and I will offer a Mass for you all this week.

Pax Christi,

Fr. Khoi