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Shining Light Saint dolls (giveaway!)

November 2, 2015

Happy Feast of All Saints! (And because real life, happy Feast of All Souls, when this giveaway is actually going live as opposed to when it was scheduled to. DST suffering is real, people.)

Today marks the final day in a triduum of sorts during which the Church celebrates the eve of All Saints, the Feast of All Saints, and finally the feast of All Souls.

Why the focus on all the dead people?

Well, because we’re Catholic, so we’re a little macabre. Bone church, anyone?

No for real though, it’s because in conquering death (where is your sting?) Christ redeemed us, body and soul, and when He comes again in triumph, our souls will be reunited with our poor bodies if we’ve already died, and we won’t be separated from them if He comes while we still live on earth.

That’s actually what we profess in the Creed. Crazy, right?

It’s also why the Church is so obsessed with dead people. Because in reality, there’s no such thing.

The Saints? Very much alive in Christ. Already chilling with Him in Heaven, in fact, as the Church Triumphant. Hence the open lines of communication in which we’re all, ahem, JPII, can you put in a good word for me with our mutual Lord and Savior since you’re with Him already? (<— intercessory prayer)

John Paul evoking a young Karol Wojtyla
John Paul evoking a young Karol Wojtyla, the original Catholic hipster.

The faithful departed who we’re not quite sure about? Purgatory, hopefully. The place where the souls of those who die in a less than perfect but not entirely miserable state can go and finish their prep work for Heaven.

Not because they still have to earn it (which is impossible), but because they’re dressed in tattered robes for the wedding feast, y’all. It’s a last chance to get cleaned up for the big dance, and a tremendous mercy. It’s also a huge opportunity for real teamwork, since the souls in Purgatory, the Church Suffering, can’t pray for themselves.

That’s our job, as the Church Militant, and that’s why praying for the dead is a spiritual work of mercy. (And can you imagine the intercessor you’d have in a soul you helped finish prepping for Heaven?) My boys pray every night for my dead grandpa, and I think it’s adorably persistent because their concern for him is real, and their faithfulness to prayer puts my own to shame.

So happy feast of All Souls. I hope you make the time to pray for friends and loved ones who have gone before you into eternity (and did you know you can earn a partial indulgence for those loved ones for visiting a gravesite and praying for the deceased today, or for visiting a church and doing the same? Get on it.)

So to celebrate today’s feast (and yesterday’s. Friggin Daylight Savings.) I’m giving away a complete set of Shining Light saint dolls and a book. Rafflecopter it up below, and visit the Shining Light website and come back here commenting with your favorite little saint doll of theirs for an extra entry.

Oh, and how about an extra entry for new or existing Mama Needs Coffee Facebook fans 😉

May the odds be with you. Or something along those lines.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

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