Word to the Wise
Thursday, November 2, 2017 - Nov. 2 - The Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed (All Souls)
[[3 options]; [13 options]; [12 options]]The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace. For if before men, indeed, they be punished, yet is their hope full of immortality; chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself. [Wisdom]
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2017 COMMEMORATION OF ALL THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED (ALL SOULS' DAY)
[Wisdom 3:1-9; Romans 5:5-11 or Romans 6:3-9; John 6:37-40. Other scriptures may be chosen.]
The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace. For if before men, indeed, they be punished, yet is their hope full of immortality; chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself. [Wisdom]
When I was a grade school and high school altar server, All Souls' Day was a workout! Priests were allowed to say three Masses that day with the theological idea of releasing souls of the Faithful Departed from purgatory. So, with two or three priests at the parish, that meant serving a lot of Masses that day. Popes St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI have reminded us that heaven, hell and purgatory are more relationships with God than geographic entities, but human minds need something to imagine and purgatory still remains, for many, a kind of "holding pen" for folks who need a bit of rehab before they can enter the pearly gates.
The meaning of All Souls' Day has expanded to include not only the encouragement of our prayers for deceased loved ones or anyone needing help for eternity, but also to help us in our own healing of memories and grief. Death may alter the expression of our relationships, but our parents remain our parents and our friends remain our friends, whether alive in this world or alive with God. On this day, we especially pray for those who need that "rehab" that purgatory represents, recalling the words from Wisdom: [Y]et is their hope full of immortality. But we can also pray for one another as we share that same hope and cherish our memories of the Faithful Departed. AMEN
config
view
logs
4096.0 KB
110 ms
4
