The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day)
(Wisdom 3:1-9; Romans 5:5-11; John 6:37-40)
The preacher declared, “We all go to
purgatory when we die.” Then he gave his
reasoning: since no one on this earth is perfect, everyone dies in need of
purification.
On one level the preacher may be too
hopeful. Evil does exist, and some
people submit to it. We pray that no one
is condemned to hell, but we must not forego the possibility. On another level, the preacher may not be
optimistic enough. There are a few who
live spectacularly holy lives and are duly accorded heaven at death. But generally the preacher has it right. Most people never fully give up selfishness
and will need some work before daring to show their face to God.
Today we pray for the dead hoping that
in time other people will pray for us. Purgatory
may not be the dreadful fire that is sometimes depicted. We could think of it as a kind of program for
substance abusers. As cozy as some
programs appear to be, participants invariably want to return to their
families. Just so, the souls in
purgatory long to be with God.
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