Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed
Praying for the Departed
Brethren, most, if not all, of us would wish not to die; we are all afraid of death. For us for Christians and believers, we need not to be much afraid of it but should pray to God for a happy death. Obviously, there is a contradiction in our attitude, which points to an inner contradiction in our very existence. On the one hand, we do not want to die; above all, those who love us do not want us to die. Yet on the other hand, neither do we want to continue living indefinitely, nor was the earth created with that in view. So, what do we really want? Ultimately, we want only one thing” the blessed life”, the life, which is simply life, simply “happiness”. Thus, if we are happy here on earth, we do not wish to die and when we are not happy here, we wish to die to find happiness elsewhere. this happiness is found in God. However, whether we delay dying or die faster, we must be confronted with the eternal reality of heaven or hell, and blessed are those who die in the state of grace to inherit eternal happiness in heaven.
Death therefore must be thought of as a light that guides us through our lives so that our decisions may always be wise and righteous, leading us to embody the beatitudes. Knowing this, we shall live everyday lives worthy of having a happy death. What is a happy death? It is when one dies with no stain of sin and such a person enters directly to heaven. These are the saints we celebrated yesterday, the triumphant church.
But how many of us die in such a state? A few! Most of us need purification before we enter heaven. This is why the church gives us this day, to pray for those souls in purgatory, who can no longer pray for themselves, but only depend on our prayers and masses we offer for them. This is a suffering church, part of God's people going through purification, they need our prayers. Today we join with the whole church to pray for those souls, the souls of our relatives, our friends and those who have no body to pray for them. These souls suffer a lot even though they are in purgatory. Saints say even a mere second in purgatory is like 1000 years of suffering here on earth. They need our prayers.
The church teaches us boldly about purgatory and we know that she cannot lie nor make error because she has Jesus as the head and the Holy spirit enlightening her daily and always. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned” (#1030–31a). Those who go to purgatory are those who die on grace but are attached to some lesser sins and need purification. However, in essence, a soul that dies “in mortal sin without repenting” freely chooses to reject God (Catechism #1033), and this one is damned and goes to hell directly. Nothing can save him. One who confesses before death, is accepted by Jesus because Jesus in today's Gospel tells us that he cannot reject anybody who comes to him. The desire of God is that we be with him in eternity, but it is our choices that decide. We must choose to come to him in order to be saved.
All souls day is not only a day for praying for the dead, but also an invitation to examine our lives on how we are living and on how we are ready to jump off the fires of purgatory to heaven when death comes on our way. We must pray for our souls too and become more believing. There are a lot of indulgences on this day and with their conditions.
A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who, on All Souls’ Day (or according to the judgement of the bishop, on the Sunday preceding or following it, or on the solemnity of All Saints), devoutly visits a church or an oratory and recites an _Our Father and the Creed. However, to obtain these Plenary Indulgences you must meet the normal requirements:
1. Be in a state of grace,
2. Receive Sacramental Confession within 20 days of the work (several plenary indulgences may be earned per reception),
3. Receive Eucharistic Communion (one plenary indulgence may be earned per reception),
3. Pray for the pope’s intentions (Our Father and Hail Mary, or other appropriate prayer, is sufficient),
4. Have no attachment to sin (even venial) – i.e., it is sufficient that the Christian makes an act of the will to love God and despise sin.
Today let us try to fulfil these conditions so that we may get our indulgences of the day. Pray masses for the souls in purgatory. Every mass that is asked on behalf of these souls, a thousand souls are freed to heaven. Make it a habit to pray for departed souls.
Let us Pray
Dear Jesus, you know that I love you, but you also know that my love needs purification of selfishness and fear. Help me to love you with an ever more perfect love that “drives out fear” (1 John 4:18). Help me to let go of that which keeps me from loving you and my neighbour more fully. May your purifying love form my heart to be more like yours. Finally, I pray for all the souls in purgatory so that they may more quickly enter into your heavenly kingdom to be with you forever. Amen
Be blessed.
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