Dear Friends in Christ,
This weekend we celebrate All Soul’s Day. This is a day to commemorate and pray for all the faithful departed. You might ask why do we pray for the dead? Aren’t they in Heaven? That is indeed our hope for we believe that all who die in God’s Grace and friendship are assured of their eternal salvation. However, we also know that we are imperfect, and Heaven is perfect. The holiness necessary to enter the joy of Heaven can be achieved through purification after death in what we call Purgatory.
Purgatory is not a bad place, it is the waiting room for Heaven and once we get to Purgatory there is only one place that awaits us – the perfect joy of Heaven. It is a place of healing and freedom from any stain of sin that clings to us after death. We also can continue to pray for, give alms, and do works of penance for the faithful departed to help in their purification. The greatest prayer we can offer is the Mass for our beloved dead. Just as our prayers for one another here on earth help each other in our pursuit of holiness the same is true for our prayers and sacrifices for those in Purgatory. I know we all want to go straight to Heaven, but God’s Mercy and Love are present in Purgatory and lead us to Heaven.
When I die, I sure hope many people pray for my soul and if by some miracle I do go straight to Heaven, don’t worry no prayers offered for the dead are ever wasted – God will use those Graces for those most in need.
If you are wondering where this doctrine is found in Scripture, you can see the practice of offering prayers and sacrifices for others in Job 1:5 and for the dead in
2 Maccabees 12:46. We also read about purification for the dead in 1Cor 3:15 and 1Peter 1:7. One other important text is found in Matthew 12:32 where Jesus speaks of the sin against the Holy Spirit which will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. This infers that certain sins can be forgiven now or after death. Let us pray for our beloved dead this weekend in a special way.
Peace and love,
Fr. Matt
