Traditionally in the Church the month of November is a period of time dedicated to prayer for the Holy Souls in purgatory (those not yet in the presence of God but destined to be). The Church commemorates all her faithful children who have departed this life, but have not yet attained the joys of heaven. St Paul warns us that we must not be ignorant concerning the dead, nor sorrowful, “even as others who have no hope . . . . for the Lord himself shall come down from heaven . . . . and the dead who are in Christ shall rise.” The Church has always taught us to pray for those who have gone into eternity. Even in the Old Testament prayers and alms were offered for the souls of the dead by those who thought “well and religiously concerning the resurrection.” It was believed that “they who had fallen asleep with godliness had great grace laid up for them” and that “it is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins.” We know that a defiled soul cannot enter into heaven. NOVEMBER BOOK OF THE DEAD - As usual Parishioners who have taken the time to complete a ‘Dead List’ for any family or friends who have died since last November will now be able to ‘look up’ the names in our Parish Book of the Dead; which will be placed on the sanctuary throughout November. Each weekend during November one of our Masses will be celebrated for the Holy Souls. NOVEMBER BLESSING OF GRAVES - Our annual Blessing of Graves will take place next Sunday (9th November) at 15.30 (Cobham Cemetery, by the chapel entrance). After the short service there will be tea and scones available back at the Sacred Heart Parish Centre.

The musings of one of God’s smallest creatures on events in and around the Parish over the past seven days . . . . Fr D got back to The Presbytery late on Sunday afternoon, pushing that funny box on wheels that he always takes away with him. As the supermarkets were closed by this time and he had run-down the food in the fridge before he left to go on holiday, the sisters were very kind and had a dinner waiting for him. After he had finished his dinner, Fr D took the ‘box on wheels’ upstairs to his bedroom and started bringing down bags of clothes to put into the ‘white boxes’ in the utility room. By the time that he had put two bags through both boxes and a further bag into one box he was ready for bed! On Monday Fr D was able to see what progress had been made on the re-roofing of The Presbytery and was delighted! The workmen explained that the majority of the works necessary (like lots of things) was in the preparations. The roof still had the original 1932 tiles in place which were very much at the end of their life cycle. Also when the house was built there was such thing as sarking felt (which now goes underneath the tiles in modern houses), replacing the tiles has meant that a layer of insulation is now in place under the tiles and roof battens. This has proved to be very effective: Fr D went into the loft which is normally very cold to find that it was every bit as warm as the house is normally - so the insulation properties of the new layer are excellent! The workmen also explained to Fr D that the chimney (which he had asked to be taken down as part of the works) was in fact badly split facing the roof and would have required a lot of work in the very near future! The flat roof on the very top of the house has been remade in fibreglass to ensure a long lifespan. Next week the workmen will set about re-tiling the awning over the front door, the roof over the utility roof and the sections looking out over the garden.  Also on Monday the workmen erecting the new fence around the car park arrived and immediately set to work digging out the holes for the new uprights and bedding them in with concrete. As the week progressed they began to fill the sections between the posts with the panels and the security side of things is now vastly improved (it also meant that the local council’s decayed chain-link fence is no longer in view from our side!). Whereas it was sad to see the demise of the conifer boarder it was not feasible for us to continue risking fires (such as the two we have already had) with vehicles (and fuel tanks) in such close proximity.

The Feast of All Souls Day is celebrated every year on November 2nd, the day after we celebrate All Saints Day. Whereas All Saints Day is a day to honour particularly holy people in our faith tradition, especially those people who have been canonized saints, All Souls Day is a day to specifically remember and pray for our deceased family and friends. Combined with Halloween (“All Hallow’s Eve”) and the Mexican tradition of El Dia de los Muertos (the Day of the Dead) this time of year is rich in opportunities to remember, grieve, pray for, and celebrate those who have gone before us. Catholic Churches have the choice of many different readings to choose from for this feast day. We’ll focus today on one of the suggested readings from Luke’s Gospel. The famous story of the disciples encountering the risen Jesus - but not recognizing him - on the road to Emmaus is only found in Luke’s Gospel. It’s a reassuring story that God can and does come close to us even when we don’t recognize him. We don’t always recognize that Jesus is present with us in our grieving; listening to us, consoling us, and offering hope, but perhaps like the two disciples, we can “catch” that it was him when we reflect on it afterwards. Hopefully when this happens, we’ll do what they did - excitedly tell others how Jesus came to them.  As we think about our beloved deceased family and friends today, this story is also a wonderful reminder that God is not limited in his ability to bring life out of death even if we are limited in our ability to understand or believe it. Jesus had told his friends beforehand that he was going to rise from the dead, and still they didn’t get it after he died. He told the parents of the twelve year old girl who had died that she wasn’t dead, she was only sleeping, but they didn’t believe it. He told Martha and Mary that Lazarus would rise again, but they didn’t believe him in the moment. Thankfully, God doesn’t need our belief or our understanding about how resurrection might work in order to bring it about. May this be a consolation today as you remember your loved ones. Questions of the week • Who is especially on your heart today as we celebrate All Souls Day? How are they still present to you now? In what memories? Objects? Places? How might you honour them today? • Imagine you are one of those disciples on the road to Emmaus. What would you want to say or ask of Jesus?