A Different Take on All Souls Day

No, I am not rewriting what today is. It is still a day on which we commemorate those who have passed as well as those who are currently in Purgatory, waiting to get into Heaven. However, on the way home from the San Fernando Mission Cemetery, where my father is buried, we encountered something that made me think about the importance of the day.

Before I get into that, I just wanted to say: daddy, we still miss you terribly. We're never going to get used to being just the two of us (mom and I) but I know you're in a better place and I thank God that you were able to give the rest of your life to Him before you passed. Big brother, Moises, I never got to meet you but I know you're looking down from Heaven, taking care of mama and I. (Paternal) Grammy, I wish I had known you better. I know I inherited my love and appreciation for Catholicism from you and I thank you for taking me to the humble but beautiful churches in Mexico when I visited. We miss and love you too.

Now... for those of you who aren't from L.A. nor have been to the San Fernando Valley, one of the California Missions is located in Mission Hills. As I said, my father is buried in the cemetery that is next to/part of Mission San Fernando Rey de España. Next to them is Bishop Alemany High School which is, from my understanding, one of the best Catholic high schools in L.A. Anyway, we often drive by there (when we're in the area) and today I was happily surprised to see a number of students with signs that read "Honk for Life" and "Vote Yes on 34." Here are a couple of pictures I took (with permission from the adult supervisor who was outside with them).

I was incredibly impressed with young men and women who were standing outside with these signs... and even more so at the amount of honking from passing cars. Wow. I have never experienced anything like that before. Kudos for being vocal about supporting Prop 34 (which will end the death penalty here in California), BAHS! (FYI: The L.A. Archdiocese has something on their webpage on it as well.)

While thinking about how great it was to see young people being enthusiastic about something they believed in, I thought back about how we, as humans, usually don't think about things like the death penalty. The students from BAHS were supporting life the way God intended -- from the womb to the tomb.

For obvious reasons, I am against the death penalty. When I say I'm pro-life, I mean I'm PRO-LIFE. I think it's horrible to kill people whether they are innocent human beings in their mother's womb or whether they've made mistakes in their lives and have taken the lives of others. If Bl. Pope John Paul II could forgive the man who attempted to assassinate him, why can't we pray for those who have committed horrific crimes? I am not condoning what they've done in any way. I know that losing a loved one hurts, especially when at the hands of someone else, but why must we contribute more hate and/or evil in a world that already sees way too much of it?

So, on this All Souls Day, I am going to pray for ALL the souls -- those who have died, those who are in Purgatory, those who are yet to be born, and those of us who need to get closer to God. I pray that those who have passed will help us learn from their mistakes and that those who are close to God will pray that we may stay on the path to becoming saints one day.

Anyway, just random thoughts that popped into my mind on this day that I wanted to jot down. The little lady I tutor will soon get here so I really should skedaddle.

Hope y'all are having a great week thus far. :D If you have any prayer requests, let me know; I'm a novena machine at the moment.

As always, thanks for reading and God Bless! :D

Dream about the End of the World

I just woke up a little while ago and I decided to write about this dream because I've been having a bunch of really interesting ones and this one has topped most of them.

I had a dream that the end of the world happened. But before that, I was involved with a love triangle. I was in love with a blond guy, whom a certain brown-eyed blond was also in love with. So the dream was her doing all in her power to get him and me just being shy and waiting for him to make his decision. In the end, things were looking up for us and then it was the end of the world. I suddenly saw myself up on a mountain/hill (can't remember whether it was high enough to be considered a mountain) and everything around was a soft red color (almost bordering on a light reddish pink). I started smelling a sweet strawberry-floral scent and I was confused for a second. Then we (my mom, who was at my side) saw people going up the mountain/hill and we decided to follow them... and that's when I knew what was going on. There were people around us -- I remember two young men in particular -- who kept saying that they didn't smell anything or see anything. That's when I realized that those going up to heaven where the only ones who could see and smell what we did. So, we started going up the hill (through what I realized was purgatory) and we were met by my paternal grandmother (who died in 2005, and whom I terribly miss) and my father (don't know where he was but he arrived to meet my grandmother -- his mother -- at the same time as us). So then I told my grandmother to go up with us; my dad also encouraging her to go up with us. She said something of the lines of "of course" and I don't remember if she said she was waiting for us, but I do remember that I had the feeling that she'd stayed behind in purgatory because she was waiting for us to get there so all 4 of us could go up to heaven together. So, my mom linked her arm with mine, I linked my right arm with my grandmother and my grandmother with my father and the four of us walked up to heaven together. Oh our way up, we passed a bishop, and other people, who kept asking what we were doing and why he couldn't see anything we could. That's when I realized that he was being left behind because he'd been corrupt and I immediately felt horrible for him. I was also VERY surprised that I was going to heaven because I've always felt that I was unworthy... and was even more surprised because my parents haven't gone to Mass regularly, or gone to confessions, and was thinking "How did they end up coming up to Heaven with those mortal sins?" (In real life, I should add, I'm trying to get them back to the church -- which I've made my mission).

As soon as we got in Heaven, we were separated according to what our mission was here on earth or what our job was. I was sent to one of the last lines where all the young people who were in the entertainment business (actors, musicians, and especially writers) were. There I saw a lot of people I'd recognized but haven't/hadn't met them in real life. There were a lot of 20-somethings, teens and little kids in the line. I remember the line was in between two aisles of books (looked almost like a library) in that area and getting out a tiny rose colored book of St. Teresa (though I don't remember if it was Avila or of Lisieux). I remember saying I wanted to see St. Teresa because I knew she was in Heaven and had a deep feeling that I wanted to finally meet her. Then I saw the certain blond guy I was in love with sitting at a table with a little blond girl named Lily (which is what I want to name my daughter). I don't know who she was but I had a feeling they were related. So then I heard someone, who was in charge of keeping everyone in line while we waited to fully go in, tell me that a big reason why I'd been sent to heaven without hesitation was because I'd been loved by someone (him) so deeply and honestly and that his love had won me a spot in Heaven. I wanted to be with him but I knew that he would wait longer to get in line even though he would've been in the same one.

So then came inspection to make sure that we were pure enough to go fully in. So they asked if I'd eaten seafood and I told them I'd had some crab a few weeks ago (which, in real life I actually did... and it was good! lol) and at first they were unsure if that would cause problems with the tests but then gave me the go ahead. While I was waiting for my folder to be pulled up (everyone had a file/folder that kept details of everything they'd done when alive), I glanced over to my sweetheart and the person behind the desk saw me and yelled at him to come over. He got up, with Lily, and started walking over just as I was ready to go into the final inspection room (where I was going to get all white clothing). That's when I woke up because my stomach growled and I was hungry.

Talk about an amazing dream! I've had dreams about talking to Pope John Paul II, various priests I don't know in real life, Jesus Christ himself, other saints, etc. Sometimes I wonder why I have these dreams. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind them at all! They are wonderful and often make me realize things I'm having problems with. I wonder if this dream is a sign of what I'm supposed to do -- since I've been so torn about what I should do. I mean, in the dream I was in the line where the young writers were... I was in love with someone who was so humble and selfless who loved me (maybe I'm meant to get married)... my parents had gone up to heaven and I'm starting to that that is another one of my goals in life -- to get them back to the church, just like I've wanted to do. I know we shouldn't read into dreams but it's so hard when I've had such an amazing dream. Never, in a million years, would I have guessed that something like this would've happened to me. It's amazing.

Alright, well, I think this might be today's post. lol. I am taking it easy for the rest of the day (and hopefully sleeping a bit because I am so tired) and don't anticipate doing much. If I do, I might save it up for a post tomorrow -- if I can write one, that is. :D

Okay, we'll I've taken far too much of your time already. Thanks for reading and God Bless.
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