As we enter into the final month of our Liturgical Year, the Church calls us to focus on HEAVEN.  We always begin the month of November with two great celebrations: The Solemnity of All Saints on November 1st and, the Commemoration of All Souls on November 2nd.  The Church does this to keep our eyes focused on what God has prepared for us as His beloved children.  HEAVEN is the final destination of our journey here on earth.  Our Good Shepherd leads us to HEAVEN.  There are times when we forget the purpose of our lives.  These celebrations help us to remember to be faithful to God’s will so that we may attain perfect union with Him for all eternity in HEAVEN.

The COMMANDMENTS were given to God’s people as a guide to build right relationships. Jesus takes the law and the prophets and sums them up into the 2 great COMMANDMENTS to love God above all, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. COMMANDMENTS exist not to impede us, but allow us to live and express fully God’s call to be in communion. COMMANDMENTS help us to use our freedom the right way.

What is it the we truly OWN in this world? Everything we OWN and possess comes from the Lord. Most importantly, we do not OWN our lives. Our lives belong to the Lord. When we were baptized, we died to ourselves and rose to a new life in Christ. Since then, our lives have not been our OWN. We are called to return our lives daily to the Lord in sacrifice so that He may use as instruments to make manifest His love and grace for our world.