In the Apostles' Creed, we express our unity with the faithful of all times and places as we profess that we believe in "the communion of saints." Special observances next week enable us to give expression to this belief. NEXT SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 1st, IS ALL SAINTS' DAY. On this Feast, we are reminded in a unique way that we each have a lot more friends than we are often aware of.
Those of the faithful who are already with the Lord in heaven are praying that when we die, we will join their company. The saints help us through their prayers, by the example of their lives while they lived in this world and in our present communion with them. All Saints' Day reminds us that the goal of living here is to arrive, by the Lord's grace and by our on-going response to this, at that setting of perfect communion with the Lord and with others in the Lord that we call heaven.
On Monday, November 2nd, the Church observes All Souls' Day. On this day, we are reminded that even as those who are already in heaven are praying for us, we are invited and encouraged to pray for all who have died, including our loved ones, that they might experience in its fullness the gift of eternal life that Christ has gained for all persons. We will have an opportunity to do this both at St. Mary and at Resurrection Parishes next weekend, October 31st – November 1st. At the weekend Masses at both parishes, persons who have died since All Souls’ Day, November 2nd, 2014, will be remembered.
It is indeed worthwhile to pray for those who have gone before us for the following reasons: 1) By doing this, we are pausing to give thanks for their lives and for the blessings that the Lord has offered us through them. 2) Also, the Lord works through our prayers to enable those who have gone before us to subjectively appropriate for themselves the gift of eternal life that Christ has gained for all persons. Based upon the teachings both of the Scriptures and the Tradition of the Church, it can be affirmed that we do not lose consciousness, an important component of which is memory when we die, even though we lose the ability to communicate with others in the ways that we have been accustomed to do this while we were regarded as being alive. Realizing that persons whom they have left behind after they have experienced death are still praying for them has to be powerfully reassuring for our deceased loved ones who may be experiencing pain in the process of being equipped to be fully at home in heaven.
May our awareness of the fact that there are countless persons in heaven who are praying for us and our manner of honoring those who have gone before us serve to remind all of us that life on this side of death, with all of its ups and downs, is eternally well worth the while.
Warmly yours in Christ, Fr. Nelson Beaver - Pastor