Halloween! Tonight, is the big night. It is one of the oldest baptized Christian feasts we have. Celebrate it! Let the kids enjoy it: masks, costumes, trick-or-treat. Don’t let modern pagan witches claim it.
Today’s Gospel can put the Halloween event in a realistic light. No danger, no fear, no distraction prevented Jesus from accomplishing his mission: fidelity to his Father. I should adopt the same formula to guide me in freedom on my way, and I should do it with a light heart, seeing children and others enjoying the fun of Halloween.
In progressing each day in the love of The Lord, I can be sure to live in that freedom and joy, having as my model Jesus, the Prophet of prophets, who lived out during his whole life the message he preached, a message of joy in sorrows and peace in opposition.
He reproached the inhabitants of Jerusalem for the hardness of their hearts. He wanted to gather them together, but they refused. I will pray today than none of us will refuse his invitation. The perfect prayer for that intention is found in the complete 1st reading, the glorious conclusion of Chapter 8 of St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans.