We're All Blessed!

Hello!  ¡Hola!  My wife and I had a wonderful weekend, as both our daughters and our grandsons were in town.

For my first project, I have an art journal page.  I started by collaging my background with scraps of paper in autumn colors.  Then, I used an old Tim Holtz Gothic stencil and applied Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink sparingly over the background.  For my focal point, I used a Scrappy Tails Books & Coffee dies set and an old Martha Stewart Classic Photo Label.  I finished off my page by hand-lettering a J.R.R. Tolkien quote, from his book, "The Fellowship Of The Ring".  I'm submitting this to Art Journal Journey - Colors of Autumn by Wendy K, Inspiration Station Challenge November 2026 - Inspiration Photo #91, and The Neglected Stuff Challenge November 2026.

Día de los Muertos is a day of remembrance for the faithfully departed, which is observed by Mexican families and others, on November 1-2.  In combination with our All Saints Day feast, I put up an Altar of Remembrance (Altar de Muertos) in our nave.  I had my congregation bring pictures of their loved ones last week, and I assembled them along with ofrendas, which included a cross, icons, holy water, holy oils, votive candles, incense, salt, wine, ceramic sugar skull figures, papel picado and paper marigolds.  After saying some prayers from the Book of Common Prayer's Burial service, we played Taizé music while I read the necrology, and each family came up to light a votive candle at the altar.  I am submitting this to Colorful Options November 2026 - Día de los Muertos,  T Stands for Tuesday - November 3, 2026, and What's On your Workdesk? Wednesday.

My Sunday Snapshot 17 & Friday Face Off 11/6/2026

Art For Fun Friday & My Sunday Best

Saturday Critters & Mosaic Monday

These last photos are my this, that, and the other.  The 1st picture is of the Jack-o-lanterns that my oldest daughter and I made for the boys.  I carved the top one and my daughter the bottom one.  The 2nd picture is of my grandsons when we took them trick-or-treating.  They were dressed as a Black Spider and Miguel Rivera from the movie Coco.  They had a blast sorting through their treats, while they rode in a wagon between the houses we stopped at.  (We've had that wagon since my daughters were their age!)  The 3rd picture is of a Western Spotted Orbweaver Spider on one of my wife's cherry tomato plants.  

In closing, I'd like to leave you with a summary of my sermon for All Saints Day:

When we think of Blessings, we often think of a special gift or reward from God, such as a good family, health, or wealth.  However, blessed has a much broader and deeper meaning.  Blessedness is all-inclusive, so we don't earn or deserve it, as we were all blessed by our creator.  The problem is that we don't all recognize our blessedness, so we seek worldly greatness.  When we recognize that we're blessed, we live in a particular way to love, honor, and serve God.  That's what the Beatitudes are all about, which means Christians are to live in humility and dependence of God; recognize their sinfulness; live meekly; seek social justice for all their neighbors; demonstrate compassion and forgiveness towards others; live with integrity; seek peace amongst all people; bear suffering from the world because of their loyalty to God; and always rejoice for their reward is in Heaven.  Therefore, the Beatitudes describe the natural fruit and internal transformation produced by the Spirit in true disciples.  Some examples of people that have recognized their blessedness and lived accordingly include St. Mary Mother of God, St. Francis of Assisi, and St. Óscar Romero.  So on this All Saints Day, let us recognize our blessedness and vow to live by the Beatitudes, our blueprint for holiness.

Thanks for visiting!  ¡Gracias por visitarme!  Please leave a comment, and I'll be glad to reciprocate, so that we can get to know each other.

Shalom,

Arnoldo+