All Saints Day Observation

by Jonny Rashid, pastor of Circle of Hope in Fishtown

Audio:

“Hey friends. Jonny Rashid here, he/him. I want to share one way you can observe Halloween, All Saints Day, and All Souls Day, which are happening on October 31st, November 1st, and November 2nd.

I want to talk about the dead. Jesus made death an enemy, but he continually grieved death, and he lamented it. And we’ve been in a season of death through this pandemic, and I want to create space for that grief, and I hope that you can too. What I want to share with you now is the hope of remembering the dead. One thing my friend Ben taught me to do a few years ago was to write down the death days down of people that I’ve lost, often grandparents, or uncles, or aunts. I write down their day and I look at the calendar and I remember them that day and I pray with them in mind that day. It is good to remember the people that have left, the people that have departed, and even to feel the sorrow of their departure because death is always an enemy. And as we praise and pray to a God who liberates, and gives life, and resurrects, we remember the pain of death in our present moment. So I hope that you can remember your dead this All Souls Day. Peace.”