Reverend Monsignor Michael J. Reid
My Dear Friends in Christ,
I am grateful to our Bishop, Bishop Robert Brennan, for asking me to serve you in this important pastoral work.
I would like to speak to you about our faith and our Church and what they teach as we prepare for eternal life.
St. Paul tells us that we do not live, and we don’t die as our own master. We are responsible to the Lord while we live and when we die. In life and in death, we are the Lord’s. That’s why Jesus died and rose to life again – that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
The richness of these words comes to mind often during the year, and especially on All Souls Day, when we pray for our departed loved ones. These words remind us that in our tradition of faith, it is the right of every Catholic and the preference of the church, to be buried in the sacred and consecrated grounds of a Catholic cemetery.
A Catholic cemetery reflects the doctrine and liturgy of Catholic belief. It maintains in death the community of faith that we share in life. It is a place of devotion and prayer for the souls of our departed loved ones as they await the resurrection in sacred and consecrated grounds.
Thank you, and together let us pray that the souls of the faithful departed will rest in peace.
Amen.
Sincerely in Christ,
Reverend Monsignor Michael J. Reid
Chief Executive Officer/Spiritual Moderator for Catholic Cemeteries
