Today is the Feast of All Saints, a day the Church sets aside to honor all “saints,” that is, all people who are in heaven. And because we pray that God brings all people to heaven, we hope that all people who have died are there, and we hope that all people living now and will live in the future will also have eternal salvation.
In Catholic Christianity, every day is a holiday, for every day we celebrate the memory of “official” holy people, people whom we honor as “saints” or people on the sainthood track. The Feast of All Saints, however, honors all people in heaven.
In Latin American countries, many people have inherited a custom of honoring the spirits of children who have died on All Saints’ Day, and then honoring the souls of departed adults on All Souls’ Day (Nov. 2).
In the photo above, we see some folks of the Church of San José Obrero (St. Joseph the Worker) in the Reitocan community of Azacualpita, who are just getting out of Mass.