St. Charles Borromeo

Charles was the second son of a rich family and destined for the Church. When only 22 years old and not yet ordained, his uncle became Pope Pius IV and made Charles the Cardinal Archbishop of Milan and Papal Secretary of State. This happened in the 16th century and shows how much the Church needed reformation! However, Charles lived an ascetic life and managed to reform his diocese and then helped reform the Church after the Council of Trent. He said: "Be sure you first preach by the way you live."
He also said that in prayer "we find the strength to bring Christ to birth in ourselves and in others."

Paul, in his Letter to the Philippians, tells us that we must have the same attitude that Christ had;then comes the beautiful hymn that tells us that Christ Jesus
"who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross."
Then comes the part of how God exalted Jesus, but let us stop here and reflect on the whole mystery of our Redemption. Jesus, both divine and human, true God and true man, becomes obedient to death, even death on a cross! What a revelation of God's love for us!

Feast of St. Martin de Porres

Martin was born in Lima, Peru, in 1579. His father was a Spanish knight and his mother an Indian from Panama, which made Martin and his sister half-castes and unacceptable in the Society in which they lived. Martin entered the Dominicans at fifteen and was soon noted for his care of the sick and the poor. He spent his nights in prayer and died in 1639.

Paul tells us in today's reading from Philippians: "Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves, each looking out not for his own interests, but also everyone for those of others.
" We are called to do this; the saints, like Martin, lived this.
Jesus tells us today in Luke's Gospel to "invite the poor, crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed with you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."

In the United States we are voting early to avoid the long lines on Tuesday. By Wednesday we will know, I hope, who our next president will be. I hope and pray that we are big enough to look beyond racial differences. I also hope that the popular vote and the electoral votes are in agreement (we have a complicated process and I have been learning more about the electoral votes this year than ever before - I thought all the electoral votes of the state went to the party that won the popular vote but now know that two of the states decide the electoral votes by districts!); I hope that the election is a clear win this year without any doubt, but it seems very close according to some of the polls. The whole world is watching so may we have a clear and orderly election!

All Souls

This is the day we pray for all those who have died. The Mass of the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed takes precedence over the Sunday Liturgy; this should not surprise us as November 2 was one of the two days that priests were allowed to say three Masses, the other being Christmas Day. This was, of course, before the reform of the Liturgy. The readings for today are very consoling:
We read in the Book of Wisdom (3:1-9) that "the souls of the just are in the hands of God." Psalm 23 tells us that The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want." Paul's letter to the Romans (5:5-11) tells us that the "love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit...God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us." In John's Gospel (6:37-40) we read: "For this is the will of our Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life and I shall raise him on the last day."
All of us face death; it is good to know that others continue to pray for us after death!

Feast of All Saints

This feast of All Saints began in the Eastern Church for all the martyrs but by the 9th century the entire Roman Church was celebrating all the saints on November 1 to replace the pagan feast.
The Communion of Saints is one of the most consoling doctrines of our faith. It is really "a communion of all the faithful of Christ, those who are pilgrims on earth, the dead who are being purified, and the blessed in heaven all together forming one Church." This quote is from Paul VI and is cited in Peter Vaghi's The Faith We Profess: A Catholic Guide to the Apostle's Creed (Ave Maria Press, 2008). I love thinking about all the saints in my own family who are still praying for me in some way. Then there are all the canonized saints the Church gives us to help us on our journey to God.
The Preface for today's feast sums it up well: Today we keep the festival of your holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem, our mother. Around your throne the saints, our brothers and sisters, sing your praise for ever. Their glory fills us with joy, and their communion with us in your Church gives us inspiration and strength as we hasten on our pilgrimage of faith, eager to meet them."
Lord, may the glory of the saints fill us with joy and inspire and strengthen us!

The first reading from the book of Revelation gives us the "vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb wearing white robes...They cried out in a loud voice, "Salvation comes from our God, who is seated on the throne, and from the Lamb."
The Gospel gives us the the Beatitudes, the heart of the teaching of Jesus and the way to live in order to be with the saints in heaven.