A Concord Pastor Comments: NIGHT PRAYER: 11/2 All Souls Day

All Souls Day by Aladar Korosfoi-Kriesch, depicting the custom of visiting cemeteries on November 2 and lighting candles at the graves of loved ones.

At the heart of all our worship as Catholic Christians,
we pause to remember…

We remember Christ, and all he did for us;
we remember how he suffered, died and rose for us;
and in word and sacrament, we remember

what he did at table with his friends

on the night before he died,

so every time we celebrate the Eucharist

we remember someone who has died: our brother, Jesus.

And every time we celebrate the Eucharist
we also remember others who have died...

You know the words as well as I do:
   Remember our brothers and sisters
   who have gone to their rest in the hope of rising again;
   bring them and all the departed into the light of your presence…

We remember all our brothers and sisters in Christ
   and not only them but all the departed
       - everyone who has died -
praying that through the mercy and love of God
    all of them will come to enjoy the light and peace of God, forever.

Of course, when we pray for those who have died
   we remember first those whom we loved the most,
       those whom we miss the most.
When I pray the remembrance of the dead,
   my heart seldom fails to remember my mother and my father,
       others as well – but always them.
I’m sure there are names that come to your heart, too.
And we pray for them…

But why do we pray for them?
What do we pray for them?

Our knowledge of human frailty and our faith in God’s mercy
   teach us that when we die, God might not be quite yet finished
       with fashioning us, making us ready for eternal life.

Our whole life on earth is a journey to the dwelling place

Christ has prepared and reserved for us in his Father’s house.

Sometimes we stay right on the path that leads us home
and sometimes we take short cuts or make detours
or even turn around and walk in the other direction!

We need the Lord to shepherd us from death into life...

So it might be, it might even be likely,
that at the end of life our rough edges
might need some buffing and polishing.

The Church has long taught that after death,

those not quite ready for heaven

may need some further purification.

This has sometimes been called purgatory.

But we might have a false picture of purgatory.

It’s not some

“flaming concentration camp on the outskirts of hell.” *

It’s not God’s last chance to make us suffer!

St. Catherine spoke beautifully of the fire of purgatory as
“God’s love burning the soul until it was wholly aflame
-- with the love of God.”

It’s like the fire mentioned in the book of Wisdom:
   “As gold in the furnace, God will prove us, purify us,
       and take us to himself… we shall shine…
           and we shall abide forever with God in love…”

If there is pain in purgatory,

it is the pain of longing to be with God,

to be worthy of the heaven Jesus won for us.

And so we pray for those who have gone before us
that God bring to completion the good work begun in their lives,
while they were still with us.

We cannot know how or even if time is measured in this purification.
Perhaps one day, one hour of finally and fully realizing
the greatness of God’s love for us

perhaps one second will be all it takes

to purify us of the sin of taking God’s love

and the love of others for granted.

When we remember those who have died
   some of us might recall those who hurt and harmed in this life.
Nothing is impossible for God.
We can pray for these, too, entrusting them to God
   who knows how to make even the hardest of hearts
       ready for his mercy.

Of course, many of those whom we remember on All Souls Day
   were long ago perfected by God’s mercy
       and welcomed to their places in heaven
We remember them, too.

Today, and through this month of November,
   we remember those who have gone to their rest
       in the hope of rising again and all the departed...