In the Philippines, November first is celebrated as All Saints Day, a national non-working holiday. Families and clans gather together at the tombs of their departed loved ones. A similar tradition is celebrated in Spain and Mexico. In North America it's Halloween.
After All Saints Day comes All Souls Day, the day after. During these days people flock to the cemeteries and even spend overnight or more there. Cemeteries look like carnivals with the mammoth crowd going there and the items sold and sales stalls for food, candles, flowers and others set up.
It is said that during these days, including the eve on October 31, spirits and ghosts roam around the streets and cemeteries, and some even "visit" relatives who fail to visit their burial place. It's supposed to be when witches and sorcerers and the powers of evil become mightier. All these are pure myths passed down to the generations and believed in by people who do not know Jesus Christ intimately as personal Lord and Savior.
Ghosts and evil spirits do lurk around, not just on All Saints Day or All Souls day or Halloween--but daily. They lurk in arid places seeking rest. Arid places are spiritually dry places where Jesus Christ, The KING of kings and LORD of lords, is not celebrated daily in life, each moment. Thus, ghosts and evil spirits lurk in homes and modern office buildings even in ultra modern settings, and even in "Christian" church buildings.
They say that there's no such thing as ghost in the modern era. They're WRONG. Evil spirits are even more advanced in technology than what man could ever come up with. You claim it's an Internet age you live in? Well, evil spirits have better cyberspace gadgets than you have. But what they have can never compare to what God and His Kingdom have. God is winner, first and last.
Is All Saints Day or All Souls Day necessary?
This is the question most people ask Night Updater. All Saints Day is not that important, but it can serve as a family reunion remembering good times with the dearly departed. You can not pray for the soul of a dead person to go to heaven or be forgiven of sins, but you can pray for each other--you who are still alive.
Is it necessary to actually go to the cemetery to pray there? Nope. But there's no harm in doing that. You get to meet other people in cemeteries and it's fun observing what other people do there or hear what they talk about. I love hearing people talk about the life of their departed loved ones.
No comments:
Post a Comment