Monday 3 November 2025. All Souls’ Day
All Souls, and a Monday night Mass. About 20 people on a mild evening.
I was thinking all day about who I should be praying for. There were my grand parents, on both sides, although I only really knew one pair, my mother’s parents, who were instrumental in how I was raised. I prayed for them all.
Then there was my Dad, who died in 2018, a regular churchgoer but hardly a model Christian. And his wife, who followed a year or two later. I prayed for them both.
I thought of Mike, and for Frank, who were step-fathers of mine. Both so supportive, and both died of cancer before they reached 60. I prayed for them both.
But then you start to think, casting your mind back.
I thought of our neighbours. First Tom, who died nearly ten years ago, before he’d turned 40. And then Neil, who died just over a year ago, leaving our friend widowed. I prayed for both of them.
Then I cast my mind way back.
There was Michael, a boy in the year above me at primary school, whose mum wrangled us all onto the school bus every morning, and was there at home time to ferry us back. Michael got ill and died. I think of him with the same dimpled smile he always used to have. I prayed for him.
Then there was Ryan. Not a close friend, but who we heard years later took his own life. I prayed for him.
I had another friend who took his own life. I met Simon in my first office job. A friendly, older brother type. He had a big voice and big wings that he took me under. One day he didn’t come back from his lunch break. I remember with shame how I broke down at his funeral. I prayed for him.
There are others. Friends of family. Elderly neighbours I used to wave at or chat with in the supermarket. And all those people who appeared during my life, who can’t possibly still be with us anymore. We could all go on and on that way. So you pray for those you know, and those you remember, and trust others will pray in the same way.Mass 38. All Souls’