Friends in Christ,
Since the beginning of our Church, the Christian community has always commemorated the memory of the faithful departed. These celebrations became an integral part of the community, especially in religious communities. More than a thousand years ago, in the tenth century, the monks of the Abbey of Cluny began to commemorate, with the celebration of the Holy Mass, the memory of all the faithful departed on November 2. This date began to be celebrated as All Souls Day in other places until the thirteenth century when the Vatican decreed that it would be celebrated throughout the Church.
The festivity we are celebrating today, All Souls Day, is a very important and special day, not only for our faith but also for our own culture. Today, we should pray fervently for all of the faithful departed, especially for our own family members, praying for those who have passed but who lived a life just like the one we are living not, with all the fragility that comes from being human. We know that the only way that we can help them is through our prayers so that, once purified of their sins, they can reach their eternal rest and enjoy the presence of God.
We know that a soul that is stained by sin can never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. In order for it to enter it must be cleaned of all guilt. God, in his mercy for us, created Purgatory, which is the entryway into heaven in which souls are purified. We can, ourselves, begin the process of purification here on earth before we die through mortification and personal penance that we can do. If we do these things, we will find less need for us to be purified after we die. If we have obeyed the commandments of our Lord faithfully we will enter sooner into the Kingdom of God. We also should remember that Jesus Christ himself gives us himself as food every day in the Holy Eucharist. He strengthens us and helps us to live more in harmony with God.
We know that if there is one thing that is certain in life it is death. Without a doubt, in this society, there are many people who do not want to hear about it much less think about it, even though its existence is evident. We can even see that there are people who do not seem to care about this very real fact of life. They act as if they will never have to die. Even though they can feel it in their own surroundings, since many times they have seen it in their own families, they do not want to think that some day it will affect them personally.
As Christians we should ask ourselves: how can we live without thinking that someday we will have to leave this world? People who live this way will not be able to prepare themselves adequately to meet their end. Everyday life shows us that there are accidents, sicknesses, suffering - in a word, that death exists. Nevertheless, we do not want to come to grips with this fact nor do we want to think about the day that it will come to us.
There are people who do think about their own death and are comfortable with the idea. They are not afraid of it. They know that this is the logical end to life and that it is inevitable. Saint Francis of Assisi shows us that he was not afraid of it. He called it, “Sister Death.” Jesus Christ showed us, by rising from the dead, that it is through death that we reach eternal life. If we look at death through the eyes of faith, we will see that it frees us from the suffering of this world. This life we live now is not our ultimate destiny. Our goal is to reach paradise.
AMEN
The festivity we are celebrating today, All Souls Day, is a very important and special day, not only for our faith but also for our own culture. Today, we should pray fervently for all of the faithful departed, especially for our own family members, praying for those who have passed but who lived a life just like the one we are living not, with all the fragility that comes from being human. We know that the only way that we can help them is through our prayers so that, once purified of their sins, they can reach their eternal rest and enjoy the presence of God.
We know that a soul that is stained by sin can never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. In order for it to enter it must be cleaned of all guilt. God, in his mercy for us, created Purgatory, which is the entryway into heaven in which souls are purified. We can, ourselves, begin the process of purification here on earth before we die through mortification and personal penance that we can do. If we do these things, we will find less need for us to be purified after we die. If we have obeyed the commandments of our Lord faithfully we will enter sooner into the Kingdom of God. We also should remember that Jesus Christ himself gives us himself as food every day in the Holy Eucharist. He strengthens us and helps us to live more in harmony with God.
We know that if there is one thing that is certain in life it is death. Without a doubt, in this society, there are many people who do not want to hear about it much less think about it, even though its existence is evident. We can even see that there are people who do not seem to care about this very real fact of life. They act as if they will never have to die. Even though they can feel it in their own surroundings, since many times they have seen it in their own families, they do not want to think that some day it will affect them personally.
As Christians we should ask ourselves: how can we live without thinking that someday we will have to leave this world? People who live this way will not be able to prepare themselves adequately to meet their end. Everyday life shows us that there are accidents, sicknesses, suffering - in a word, that death exists. Nevertheless, we do not want to come to grips with this fact nor do we want to think about the day that it will come to us.
There are people who do think about their own death and are comfortable with the idea. They are not afraid of it. They know that this is the logical end to life and that it is inevitable. Saint Francis of Assisi shows us that he was not afraid of it. He called it, “Sister Death.” Jesus Christ showed us, by rising from the dead, that it is through death that we reach eternal life. If we look at death through the eyes of faith, we will see that it frees us from the suffering of this world. This life we live now is not our ultimate destiny. Our goal is to reach paradise.
AMEN
In remembrance of past worshippers
In our day of thanksgiving one psalm let us offerFor the saints who before us have found their reward.When the shadow of death fell upon them, we sorrowed But now we rejoice that they rest in the Lord.
In the morning of life, and at noon, and at even, He called them away from our worship below;But not till his love, at the font and the altar, Had girt them with grace for the way they should go.
These stones that have echoed their praises are holy, And dear is the ground where their feet have once trod;Yet here they confessed they were strangers and pilgrims,And still they were seeking the city of God.
Sing praise then, for all who here sought and here found him, Whose journey is ended, whose perils are past:They believed in the Light; and its glory is round them, Where the clouds of earth's sorrow are lifted at last.
William Draper 1855 - 1933
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