Commemoration of All Souls

Perhaps something in one or more of these articles speaks to you:

https://www.catholicireland.net/saintoftheday/the-commemoration-of-all-souls/

http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/all-souls-day/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Ucatholic+%28uCatholic%29\

http://blog.adw.org/2017/11/praying-died-work-mercy/

http://www.ucatholic.com/blog/how-many-catholic-saints-are-there/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Ucatholic+%28uCatholic%29

 http://catholicexchange.com/pray-dead-all-souls-day?mc_cid=04113e0242&mc_eid=318db96c1c

All Souls Day Homily

 Fr. Martin Fox

http://frmartinfox.blogspot.com/2005/11/all-souls-day-homily.html

Today, All Souls’ Day,
is a day of remembrance,
but also a day full of hope.

This time of year,
the Church bids us consider eternity.

Yesterday was the great feast of All Saints.
The saints give us hope—
We long to join their company;
And it is God’s will that we do so.

There are only two final destinations,
after this life:
Either we go to heaven—
and then we will be a saint—
Or we go to the other place.

What about purgatory?
Purgatory is not a destination—
No one spends eternity in purgatory.

It isn’t really a “place” at all,
but a process:
It’s a stopping point on the way.
Purgatory is the “mud room” of heaven;
It’s the saints’ finishing school.

Some tell me they’re a little afraid of purgatory—
They think of it in terms of punishment.

Our late, beloved holy father, John Paul,
taught us otherwise.
He said, before entering
the perfect glory of heaven,
“Every trace of attachment to evil
must be eliminated,
every imperfection of the soul corrected.

“Those who, after death,
exist in a state of purification,
are already in the love of Christ
who removes from them
the remnants of imperfection.”

They “are united both with the blessed
who already enjoy the fullness of eternal life,
and with us on this earth
on our way towards the Father's house.”

Now, that doesn’t sound so bad, does it?
Nothing to be afraid of.

We might wonder, is there pain in purgatory?
C.S. Lewis said this:
If there’s pain in purgatory,
it’s the pain of having Christ so near—
ah, but still something holds us back.

Because it’s the pain of healing,
Lewis said, it’s pain we’ll welcome.

The healing isn’t just about
those who have died;
It helps heal us, the living, as well.
Sometimes people die,
and maybe we have
unfinished business with them.

Or maybe we wonder—
what will become of them
in their moment of judgment?

We might fear for them.
But thanks be to God,
our ability to help them
doesn’t end at their death!

Now, I’m going to say something
a little mind-bending.
Think about this:

You and I live in time:
one day follows another,
Past to present to future—right?

But God doesn’t live in time—
Time in no way limits God.

So, I have a cousin,
who died at his own hand.
What did he believe or understand,
at that moment?
I don’t know.

But when I pray for him now,
That prayer can help him,
not just after he died,
But anywhere along the course of his life!

No, I can’t “go back in time”—but God can!

So all those people
you’ve ever worried about:
Pray for them now—
And who knows just where
along the course of their lives,
God may choose to apply your prayers?

When we remember the dead this time of year,
we remember that our existence, on earth,
is but one slice of reality.

Naturally, we think it’s the most important,
Or the most real, slice of life.

But it’s not.
We’re on our way to the most important,
most real, dimension of life:
Life after this life—
Not only life-after-death,
but life-after-resurrection!

There’s so much more still ahead!

And this is why Christ came,
Christ died, and rose for us:
To open the path and lead us there.

The prophet Daniel foresaw it;
St. Paul rejoices because the Holy Spirit,
poured into our hearts,
makes us long—thirst—pant!—
for this destiny!

In the Eucharist,
we get just a taste of this reality!

Christ leads us there—
there’s nothing to be afraid of.

Pondering Our Own Death

Whereas the readings for All Souls Day and homilies focus on the passing of others, they may also lead us to reflect on our own death, which we may do so ranging from hope and confidence in God's mercy to anxiety and fear.

The following are excerpts from the reflection for All Souls Day, pages 292-293, from A 12-Step Approach to the Sunday Readings (2002) by Fr. Jim Harbaugh S.J. Perhaps
these words can offer some comfort for those who work the twelve steps but are uncomfortable in thinking about their our death.

"In countries like Mexico, All Souls is the Day of the Dead, a festive occasion...; dead loved ones are still very much part of the family. Here in the United States, death is a lonelier affair. We may resist memories of those we have loved who have died, because they naturally lead us to think about our own deaths. What lies on the other side of death is, of course, an 'outside issue' for 12 Steppers--it's a case of death as we understand death. There is no such thing as 12-Step orthodoxy on this point (or any other, in fact). Still, I think that those of us who have been 'reborn' through practice of the Steps (see Big Book, 63) possess an important clue about what death might mean.

This makes sense to me: a Power that can bring us back from a deathly illness is worthy of trust in the matter of our deaths as well. We can prudently turn our will and our lives---and the end of our lives---over to the care of such a Power.

Or you might want to ponder these words of Bill W.: when we feel 'new power flow[ing] in,' early in recovery and later, and as we improve our 'consciousness of [God's] presence, we beg[i]n to lose our fear of today, tomorrow, or the hereafter' (Big Book, 63)."