All Souls 2024

October has passed and November has come.  Frost covers the ground in the morning and the air feels crisp and cool.  We are well into the fall season.  And during autumn the world seems to undergo a kind of death.  The leaves fall, one by one, silently surrendering to the finality of their life.  And yet, in this quiet surrender, there lies not only death and demise but a strange sort of beauty displayed in the color of the leaves.  The leaves change and fall and we eventually witness the beauty of spring and new life.  Nature provides us with a kind of sacrament, a sign and symbol for our own lives.  The beauty of the changing seasons points to the beauty of the resurrection.  We must all undergo a changing of seasons, passing through death and arriving at a resurrection.

Today, we offer our prayers for the holy souls in purgatory.  Purgatory, we know, is not a punishment but a mercy.  It is that wondrous place of final preparation, of cleansing and healing, where souls are perfected and made ready to enter the fullness of God’s presence in the Kingdom of Heaven.  Imagine Purgatory not so much as a place of fire and brimstone but rather as the gentle hands of a gardener.  Yes, a gardener who tenderly cuts and prunes away the last remnants of sin, allowing the soul to reach the full bloom God intended from the very beginning.  The fire of purgatory is the fire of divine love, not a flame of punishment but a flame of purification.

Now, I know there are some who think, “Purgatory?  Isn’t that a medieval invention to frighten people into compliance and good behavior?”  But we ought to remember that purgatory is not an invention but an insight—one grounded in the proper understanding that God’s justice and mercy are not mutually opposed but are two sides of the same coin.  Our God is a God of perfection and justice as well as a God of love and mercy.  And love demands nothing less than the complete transformation and purification of the soul.

Consider for a moment the parable of the wedding feast, in which the unprepared guest is asked to depart.  We may think it harsh, but imagine being in that man’s position: dirty, clothed in shabby, unsuitable attire, surrounded by radiance and splendor.  There would be no joy, only shame and a sense of being out of place.  So it is with the soul who must be made whole and holy, ready to enter the eternal joy of heaven.

In praying for the holy souls in Purgatory, we are reminded that our lives on earth are interwoven with those who have gone before us.  The Church is much larger than what we see in this world.  We are connected with those members of the Church who have obtained their reward in Heaven and those members who await their reward in Purgatory.

There is something profoundly consoling in this thought isn’t there?  Even in death we are not alone.  The communion of saints surrounds us—the saints triumphant, the saints suffering, and we, the saints militant here on earth.  In praying for the souls in purgatory, we are reminded of our own need for mercy and forgiveness.  These souls for whom we pray are our allies.  They are the armies that have gone before us to the final destination, cheering us on as we march and advancing by our prayers.

And so, today let’s pray with confidence for our brothers and sisters in Purgatory.  Our prayers are not in vain.  Even as the world gradually forgets our beloved dead, we, the Church, remember.  Even as the world grows indifferent, we are motivated by the command to love God and our neighbors.

And let’s not forget to prepare well for our own death, knowing that one day we may find ourselves in the gentle hands of the Gardener when our own sins and unholy attachments must be pruned away.  It may be we for whom the Church will one day pray on All Souls day as we journey through that purifying fire into the joy of God’s eternal kingdom.  Remember your death.