We have certainly experienced a real change in season over these past few days, haven’t we? We’re clearly into fall now and, with all of the beautiful trees in our neighborhood losing their leaves, we experience, once again, nature shutting down for winter; it’s the natural cycle of life here on earth. That seems to be the way of this world: life, death and life and death once again. For us Christians, however – we who believe in an eternal and all-loving God – there is an important break in that cycle: the entry into eternal life where there is no death. Yesterday, we joined with the Church universal in celebrating all of the saints who are enjoying that fullness of life. Today, we continue to celebrate the communion of saints, now focusing on the saints to be. Remember, once you’ve made it to purgatory, you’re on your way to heaven! The Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed – All Souls Day, as we commonly call it – is always celebrated on the day after All Saints Day. It only occurs occasionally on a Sunday, however. The last time we celebrated it on a Sunday was in 2014 – that’s 11 years ago – so let’s reflect for a moment on the reason for this feast.
First of all, I think it’s important to understand what purgatory is, and what it is not. It is not like a jail sentence where we serve for a time as a punishment for our sins before being released into heaven. Praying for our beloved dead is not like posting bail to get them out sooner. Rather, purgatory is like being invited to a private audience with our new pope. Wouldn’t you love to receive that invitation to meet the first American pope with local roots? Let’s say you do receive such an invitation. Would you just hop on the plane and stroll into the Vatican, just as you are? Wouldn’t you, rather, make sure you have the right outfit, that your hair is trimmed and coifed, and that you know what to say when you are introduced to him? And, since most of you haven’t met a pope yet, you would probably ask someone who has for advice and counsel. Take it from someone who has been in the private company several times with the last three popes, there are certain expectations and requirements for such a privileged moment: black dresses and head coverings for you women and a suit for you men, to start off. We clergy are required to wear cassocks; a black suit and clerical shirt won’t do.
Well, that’s just for meeting the pope, an important person but just another person, like you and me. So, how do we prepare to meet God? We’re supposed to spend our entire lives preparing for that eternal moment but, if we’re honest with ourselves, we’ll admit that we’re not quite ready for when he does call us to himself.
So, we need some time for final preparation; that’s purgatory. That’s where we come to admit and feel sorrow for the sins of our past and clean ourselves up – that is, purify ourselves; that’s why it’s called purgatory – before we are brought face-to-face before God. And, we will certainly experience a spiritual pain in purgatory if we have committed serious sin. But, that’s not God punishing us. It’s us realizing how wrong we were. It is then that we will be grateful for the prayerful support of those we have left behind as well as from those who are already enjoying God’s glory: the saints we celebrated yesterday.
That’s where we find ourselves today. In our daily lives as Christians, we usually focus our attention on reflecting on what we do, don’t do, and could do, for those around us here on earth: our family and friends and even strangers. That is an aspect of our religion that is, of course, very important. But we sometimes forget that we can also do something on behalf of our loved ones who are no longer with us. We can offer prayers for them and, most especially, offer a Mass for them, to accompany them in their time of purification in purgatory.
Yesterday, we focused on those faithful whom Jesus has welcomed to the heavenly wedding banquet. Today, we focus on the faithful who are in purgatory, being purified and made ready to enter the banquet hall that is filled with the glory of God. Yesterday, we rejoiced with the saints and asked for their prayers before the throne of God for us and our loved ones. Today, we are reminded to offer our prayers for the faithful departed who are still preparing to stand before God’s throne. And, we lift up in prayer not only our deceased family members but also all the souls in purgatory who have no one left to remember them; after all, they are part of the Church, as well.
In today’s gospel passage, we hear Jesus tell us that it is the will of the Father that all who believe in him may have eternal life. Today, we pray that the Father’s will be done and that the souls of the faithful departed may soon enjoy eternal life with God.
Today, we all pray for our dearly beloved who have died. We pray that God will quickly bring them into his presence so that they will have their deepest longings satisfied. And, we pray to them for the strength of faith, persistence in hope and abundance of love to live for that day when God calls us to himself. May we all be born into that new life when we will see God face to face.