Pastoral Message – September 22, 2024
Sunday, September 22, is the first official day of Fall this year. That’s because this year is the Autumnal Equinox, when the Sun is exactly above the Equator and day and night are of equal length as the days get shorter, occurs on September 22nd. Of course, we don’t need the coming of the Autumnal Equinox to tell us that Fall is approaching. There are other signs of Fall around us as well:
- Vacations are over and the school year has begun;
- Pumpkin spice stuff is appearing in the stores;
- You can buy Halloween candy in all the usual stores;
- Saints Simon & Jude is in big-time preparation for its Fall Festival;
- The choir is back at the 11:15 a.m. Mass;
- You can buy cinnamon brooms at Trader Joe’s;
- The weather is actually a little cooler some mornings;
- Once in a while some areas get possible rain forecasts;
- And I’m sure you can add other signs as well.
During my ten years in the Midwest, this was the time of raking leaves, lots of them, as the tree branches became bare above me. It was a good life lesson: the trees appeared to be dead, but I knew that they were very much alive and would have new leaves the following Spring. Every time I celebrate a funeral, that thought comes to me. Death is a change of life, not an end of life.
Our lives go on as the seasons change. Through it all, we are called to live each moment well. As an old saying goes, “Yesterday is already a dream and tomorrow is only a vision; but today lived well makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”
I wish you a good day today.
Fr. Philip
