Mar Yosip Parish of San Jose celebrated their 15th Annual "All Saints' Night" on October 31, 2006 and it was a fun and a successful event for all ages.
All Saints Night's deepest roots are decidedly pagan, and unlike Christmas and Easter, it has kept those pagan roots, despite its now Christian name. The controversy surrounding this holiday goes back well over a thousand years to when Christians confronted pagan rites of appeasing the lord of death and evil spirits. But the early Christians didn't simply speak out; they tried to institute a Christian alternative. All Saints Night was a celebration of all "the holies" - those people who had died faithful to Christ.
Light against darkness. Life against death.
Certainly of all people, we should be joyful. The challenge is to use the creativity of the Creator to celebrate both the light and life He brought into this world, and His victory over evil - and evil spirits - which extends into the next.
We were also fortunate to have His Grace Mar Odisho Orahim as our Guest of Honor. Children were all gathered around him, making it one of the most memorable times for all of us to be part of.
Our children all had an amazing time jumping, bouncing and playing games with their fellow Assyrian friends and family.
We were blessed to be part of this memorable event. God bless our nation, our Assyrian heritage and most importantly, our Assyrian Church of the East.
