“The month of November makes me feel that life is passing more quickly. In an effort to slow it down, I try to fill the hours more meaningfully.” (Henry Rollins)

Daylight hours are growing shorter, a brisk chill seems to fill the evening air, and the leaves of the trees, after gracing us with their beautiful colors, are now falling quickly to the earth. This time of the year may seem bleak as we prepare to enter another winter, and even the Church begins to urge us to reflect on the last things. We end October with a time of trickery and treats to turn the calendar to November with its time of Saints and Souls.

This time of the year we are often asked to remember. To remember the lives of the heroes of our faith ... the heroes that are marked in our Church calendar and the unsung heroes who passed on the faith to us. We are called to remember those who have died and are awaiting their entrance into the heavenly kingdom. It is a time to celebrate the lives of the Saints and to remember all those who have gone before us. The sun setting early each day in the Northern Hemisphere is God’s way of reminding us to reflect on our own dwindling days. We pray that we will be remembered fondly as Saints when we have gone.

November is also a time for us Redemptorists to remember the day St. Alphonsus founded our Congregation in Scala on November 9, 288 years ago. Like all anniversaries it is a time to look back fondly and give thanks for the faithfulness of the thousands of Redemptorists who have gone before us. But instead of just looking back in gratitude, it is a time for all of us Redemptorists to recommit our lives for the future. Like the pioneer Redemptorists who gathered around Alphonsus ready to give their lives to proclaim plentiful redemption, we present- day Redemptorists must give our lives to Christ the Redeemer to preach the Good News anew to the abandoned, especially the economically poor.

May St. Alphonsus, all our Saints, and Blesseds intercede for you as we move deeper into autumn and closer to winter. May Our Mother of Perpetual Help continue to watch over you, your family, and all your loved ones.

In the Spirit of the Redeemer,

Paul J. Borowski, C.Ss.R.