ALL SOULS

Yesterday we celebrated the feast of all saints. We remembered all those holy men and Women who have gone before us who are now with God. Today we pray for those people who have also died but their pilgrimage to God is not yet over. They are in the place of purification sometimes known as Purgatory. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.”

So as we hear in the preface of the Mass today that for your faithful people life has changed not ended.

Today and during the month of November we pray for those who have gone before who still need our prayers. And so the holy souls depend on the prayers of the whole Church not just the earthly church but also the communion of saints. At Mass we join their prayers with them. This is why it is important to pray and remember the dead. This is why it is important to go to the grave side of those who we loved to pray for them during this month of November.  They rely on our intercession our prayers “because it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead so that they may be loosed from their sins.”

So let us this month of November take a breath and pause for a while. Take some time to remember but also to pray for our beloved brothers and sisters who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith.

Eternal Rest grant unto them O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.