By Cathy Jenkins

What a privilege it is to now be able to gather with the faith community for Sunday Mass. On a recent Sunday it was strangely moving to sit outside with the congregation – for me, the first time I had been to Mass since this easing of this last lockdown period. Until this year I, like many others I suspect, had taken the whole ‘going to Mass’ thing pretty much for granted. Something that was part of the weekend routine. A time to connect with parish friends – and share with them the ups and downs of each week. Our lives are filled with routines and the Mass habit brought a regularity to life – a pattern of being. And then, overnight, the pattern broke. As with so many of our ways of being this pandemic year, practising Catholics were forced into a new way of being.

And now it is November – this grace-filled month of remembrance that commences with the feasts of All Saints and All Souls. And there is much to remember. We remember all who have and who are suffering as a result of this worldwide pandemic. We remember those who died a lonely death during this COVID time and we remember the loneliness of the those who mourn them. And our memories are drawn back to those we have loved and for whom we mourn.

For me, November has always been a month of pilgrimage. I learnt this from my mum because most particularly in the month of November, she would pick up her cemetery bag and she would embark on her November pilgrimage.

As part of her pilgrimage she entered into her land of memory. In her later years I would accompany her, and as we drove to the various cemeteries where loved ones lay, she would tell stories about the people we were to visit. Her memories of them, how they died, how they had impacted her life. Many of the stories were fairly mundane by story standards – they were the usual funny and sad anecdotes of loved ones who had lived good and holy lives. Once at the grave she would brush away the dust, place her flowers and we would sit. Sometimes we would sit in silence, sometimes there would be some tears but always our time at the grave finished with a prayer. ‘Ah well,’ Mum would sigh – ‘time to get back to the land of the living!’ And we would go, carrying with us the memories of our now our silent friends.

It is from her that I started to understand how important it is to remember. The retelling of stories became part of the keeping alive those who have gone before us. Their stories now become our stories. The great Roman philosopher and orator, Marcus Tullius Cicero is credited as observing that ‘the life of the dead is placed in the memory of the living’. By the telling of the stories of those who lived before us, we are giving life to them. Bringing to life the words from the funeral liturgy that the lives of the dead have changed, not ended.

For Catholics, November is a memory month. This is the time for lighting candles, cutting rosemary, listening to God’s Word and praying the special memorial prayers. We reach out and we remember all who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith. The lives of the dead are not only placed in the memory of the living but in the memory of the Church. We are forever linked to our beloved dead, and their witness to their faith is not silenced because it is now embedded into the fabric of our missionary hearts.

And this is what I was remembering when I gathered with the community around the table of the Lord for the first time in a long time. That once again we can gather together and join with our ancestors in prayer. We listen to the words of the liturgy and we respond with the prayers which have accompanied us throughout our lives. Our saints and angels are gathered with us and it is a time of encounter. A time that is sustained by the past, energised by the life experience we bring and propels us into the next week with grace and blessing.

And that is why I will be ‘going back’ to Mass. Because, even though it’s been OK to join an online Mass community over this long ‘at home’ period, it’s not quite the same. It’s not quite the same as joining with others. It’s not quite the same as looking around and being reminded of the goodness of people. It’s not quite the same as being drawn into the mystery of the Eucharistic celebration. And most of all, remembering alone is not quite the same as remembering as part of a community.

So, as the saints and angels gather with us, let us remember with joy and pray with confidence as a community in this month of November: Eternal rest grant unto all our beloved dead, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.

Cathy Jenkins
November 2020

Cathy Jenkins is Assistant to the Director: Leadership with Catholic Education Sandhurst. She is a delegate for the Sandhurst Diocese for the Plenary Council 2021.