It’s beginning to look a lot like…pumpkins. I’ve been spending some time at the Our Lady of Peace Pumpkin Patch this week. It’s a great excuse to be outside and enjoy these unusually warm October days, and a great opportunity to meet parishioners, school families, and neighbors of our parish. A significant theme has emerged in my reflections on my time at the Pumpkin Patch: the Lord chooses us because He loves us and not because He needs us.

The idea of angels has come to feel vaguely like the idea of fairy godmothers in our culture today. And while this idea isn't entirely wrong, it leaves something to be desired, in my opinion. 
 

When I was maybe ten or eleven years old, my grandma wondered aloud while driving my sister and me home why Jesus died and remained dead for three days. Without missing a beat, I told her it was because he had to go to hell first. I remember this moment distinctly because she asked me how I knew that and I honestly had no idea and it was a bit of a disconcerting experience for me. The truth is that I'm sure my subconscious was remembering the line from the Apostles' Creed that I had heard (and said) hundreds of times by that point in my life but hadn't really taken the time to actually process. 
 

There are some hilarious memes on the internet of cats shoving their bodies into spaces they don't belong in; boxes, vases, fish tanks, sinks, you name it: if they fit in it, they will sit in it. If you don't know what I'm talking about I wholeheartedly encourage you to google "if I fits I sits" and look through the images. You'll be laughing until your sides hurt.