All Souls Day
Readings:
Job 19:1,23-27a
1 Corinthians 15: 51-57
John 5: 24 – 29
Reflection
“When I die, bury me anywhere you like, but remember to pray for me at the altar”. These are the words of St. Monica to her son St. Augustine of Hippo.
All Souls Day is a day to commemorate all the faithful departed. It is a day to remember and pray for our dear ones who have gone before us for the eternal reward. Belief in the immortality of the souls is quite common in many religious traditions. In fact, they are very significant among the tribal communities, not to mention the indigenous people of Australia.
Jesus and the Apostles shared the Jewish belief of praying for the dead and passed it on to the early Church. “Remember us who have gone before you, in your prayers,” is a petition often found inscribed on the walls of the Roman catacombs.
Vatican II – Lumen Gentium (50) says, “the pilgrim Church from the very first ages of the Christian religion has cultivated with great piety the memory of the dead, and ‘because it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead that they may be loosed from their sins’, also offers suffrages for them.” Since early centuries Church has always had the prayers for the dead in the liturgies of the Mass.
The Church’s official teaching on Purgatory is plain and simple. It is a state of purification, burning with a longing to have full union with God. It is a state where the mercy and the justice of God meets. Souls undergoing purification can be helped by the prayers of the faithful (Council of Trent). According to some modern theologians Purgatory can also be an “instant” purification immediately after death depending on the state of each individual.
Today the Church in her mercy offers us an opportunity to pray for the dead. As believers we can help the souls by offering Masses for the deceased, visiting their graves, works of penance, works of charity, praying Rosaries and in many other ways in faith and love. It is also an opportunity to show our support to those who are suffering the loss of their loved ones.
Our journey of faith is not only with the visible Church but also the invisible Church. We are making our way to the “Triumphant Church” together, not out of fear but with love and holy desire. And so, it is indeed “a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead”.
Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord. May perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. – Amen.
Justin Durai Raj CP is a member of the Passionist community at St.Paul, Glen Osmond, SA.