November 3, 2024 - All Saints Sunday and a Día de los Muertos Celebration

Readings and Psalm
Wisdom 3:1-9; Psalm 24; Mark 12:28-34 

All Saints Sunday and the Gospel reading for Creator was John's account of Lazarus being raised. 

Pastor Emilie captured the ambivalent feelings and emotions among certain members of the audience in her sermon. I believe I was particularly sensitive to that ambivalence having recently experienced a death in my family and with two close friends.

The power of grief particularly hit me as the Gospel was being read this Sunday. “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

Martha believes in Jesus and that her brother will be resurrected but the power of losing Lazarus still makes her accusation that Lazarus could have been saved and that Jesus was not there when her brother died. 

The tears still sting our eyes and our hearts can feel not enough was done at a particular life moment to prevent the loss when those we love die. And even Jesus weeps before raising Lazarus and he knows Lazarus will be raised from the dead that day. Still, our tears and our hearts do not belie our belief that God overcomes death. Our expressed emotions are part of our being human.

After our All Saints service the congregation went to the Fellowship Hall and learn more about Día de los Muertos from our friends who honor the day.    

The Día de los Muertos celebrations officially finished on November 2 but Creator's celebration took place after our All Saints service. Its combination of the Indigenous cult of death and ritual rites with Catholicism brought it over from Europe. The custom of inviting departed loved ones home for a day is a way to honor their lives and accept what will happen after death.

For those who celebrate the Day of the Dead food, flowers and altars are components of the celebration. To honor the deceased, foods such as sugar skulls, sweetbread rolls and beverages are arranged on ofrendas, or house altars, along with clay ornaments and sentimental objects. Either at the cemetery itself or at a table at home, family members think their loved ones will feast on the “essence” of their offered treats.