Consoling certainty
November often feels like the ending of things. There is a popular poem which emphasises the ‘no’ part of the month. No sunshine, no flowers, no warmth no butterflies or leaves.
As we enter into the month’s prayerful purpose in the Catholic tradition; remembrance of all the faithful departed, making our November Dead list and visiting cemeteries we may be tempted to dwell only on what has ended even as we entrust our dead to God’s merciful love. In sadness we may forget for awhile the Lord’s reminder that the seed must first die in order to live.
Shortly before his own death last April, Pope Francis wrote of a ‘consoling certainty: death is not the end of everything, but the beginning of something. Something that will never end.’
In praying for our dead we are not just being nostalgic we are meeting them in a communion of prayer. November also ends on an uplifting note in the triumphant Solemnity of Christ the King. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of all things. The dying world points to His Kingship, not of earthly power, but of truth, life, and divine mercy.
In November we not only watch the year die but enter into nature’s cycle of death and rebirth. We honour the saints, pray for our dead and fix our eyes on the Eternal King who promises that death is but a gateway, and that for those who believe, life is changed, not ended.
Paul Clayton-Lea
Editor
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