Día de los muertos

This weekend and throughout the week people are preparing for the All Saints Day and All Souls Day. Many are also preparing for the sacred Day of the Dead celebrations which include ancient rites, traditions, and rituals that are often fused with Roman Catholic traditions. The focus of these sacred days are to remember and welcome the dead into our familial lives and to create a space for them. The belief is that our ancestors are part of a celestial community but are also in communion with us the living. It is a special time to remember the people we love, their legacies and contributions to our family and the community. It's a special tradition that everyone can celebrate whether you're a believer or not because we all can easily recognize that we are each who we are because of those who have gone before us. Keeping in mind the horrific tragedy that unfolded in Pittsburgh this weekend (10/27/18) it is fitting that we take a moment to hold in our thoughts those who have died and recommit to our individual efforts to be, as St. Francis would say, instruments of peace.