When you’re dead, you’re dead

But why do other religions not observe All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day?

“When I die, do not come to my grave and tell me how much you love me and how much miss me. Because those are the words I want to hear while I am still alive.”

Palahi ta. All roads lead to the cemeteries today as we visit the graves of our departed ones and offer prayers and flowers and light candles. But if we are to strictly follow the Catholic Church calendar, today, All Saints’ Day, is not the right day to visit the graves of our loved ones as the day is for those who died and became saints. Tomorrow, All Souls’ Day, is the appropriate time to visit the graves of ordinary people. But it has been the practice for people to flock to the cemeteries today, especially that tomorrow has not been declared a non-working holiday.

All Saints’ Day is a celebration for all Christian saints, particularly those with no special feast day of their own in Roman Catholic, Anglican and Protestant churches. In many western churches, All Saints’ Day is usually held on November 1. In many eastern churches, it is celebrated on the first Sunday after the Pentecost.

All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day has been observed for centuries principally by Roman Catholics. In the Philippines, one of the largest Catholic-dominated countries in the world, we celebrate this similar with the way the holiday is marked in other countries that are also dominated by Catholics. The occasion is also used to hold family reunions.

But why the celebration? According to Catholic belief, the soul of a person who dies can go to one of three places: in heaven, where a person who dies in a state of perfect grace and communion with God goes; in hell, where those who die in a state of mortal sin are condemned; the immediate option is purgatory, where people who are free from mortal sin but are still in a state of lesser sin must go. Purgatory is where souls are cleansed and perfected before they enter heaven.

But why do other religions not observe All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day? The answer is simple. First, they don’t recognize Roman Catholic-proclaimed saints. Dili man sila motuo og Santos, nganong mo- observe man sila og All Saints’ Day? They don’t even celebrate fiestas, which is to honor a patron saint. Pero kusog kaayong mamista. Ang uban dili man motuo ni Kristo apan modawat og Christmas gift ug Christmas bonus inig Christmas.

As to honoring and remembering the departed loved ones, they do not believe that there is life after death or that a person has soul. Once you are dead, you are dead and will be forgotten. Well, we have to respect them because that is their religious belief.

But entrepreneurial minds celebrate this occasion to earn extra income. Examples are tombstone or lapida makers, candle makers and flower growers. Then there are the shopping malls-initiated gimmicks like “trick or treat” aimed to attract children and adults. They also have Halloween parties. Commercial gihapon. Mao nay giingon nga kuwarta sa kalag.