All souls Day

All souls Day
My dear brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ,
On this day we remember all of those who have died and have not been saints. That is most like the great majority of those who have died. We pray for them because we know that prayer for the dead is important. We do not know how those who have died are purified to be in the presence of the living God, but we recognize that such purification is truly necessary. It could happen in the very act of dying or it could happen in some other way. We Christians have always believed that this purification is necessary to come into the presence of God. So we can offer good works for those who have died, such as almsgiving, indulgences and works of penance. In 2 Maccabees Chapter 12: 39-46 when Judas Maccabees found his men slain and he was about to bury their bodies, they found pagan amulets under their tunics, which is a sin against the great Commandment. You shall have no strange gods before me.
Instead of despair and in great sacrifice to themselves, Judas and his men took up a collection of two-thousand silver drachmas and sent it to the Temple in Jerusalem so sacrifices would be offered in the temple on behalf of these men who had fallen in battle and had not lived as they should have; there were issues that had to be tied up. They did so for if they could do anything in reparation, this act of sacrifice would be accepted by God to pay their debt.
The Book of Wisdom (3:1-9) has often brought comfort to those who mourn. It teaches us that always we are in God’s hands, both during our life and at the time of our death. We can rejoice in this teaching: Those who trust in him shall understand truth. Always our faith helps us understand the truth about life and the truth about God. It is trusting in the Lord that helps us believe that those who have died in this life have not died forever, but are now with God in peace. Upon death, it is believed that souls have not yet been cleansed of sin. Praying for souls of loved ones helps to remove the stain of sin, and allow the souls to enter the pearly gates of heaven. Through prayer and good works, living members of the church may help their departed friends and family.
There is always a dispute in believing in Purgatory. Purgatory doesn't contradict the Bible and that it makes a lot of sense: if nothing unclean can enter heaven and if the Holy Spirit hasn't finished his work of making us like Christ when we die, then before we can face God in heaven, he has to clean off any remaining attachment to sin that we might still have - and that's Purgatory.
It is interesting that King Henry VIII of England granted himself to be the Supreme head of the Church in England and the first thing he did was do away with Purgatory. If I got on the observation desk of the empire state today and looked south I couldn’t see St Patrick’s Cathedral and although it wasn’t in the news today, I am sure Cathedral is still there. Just because I can’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Well King Henry VIII announced, “Purgatory? No more Purgatory.” It is interesting to note that when Henry VIII lay dying, he called for a Roman Catholic priest so that he might go to Confession and not one of those who had taken an oath of fidelity to King Henry VIII.
We could say that he who intervenes on behalf of the dearly departed is helping himself because, in the presence of God they will be eager to help those who intervened and helped them be released from purgatory. The great pain in Purgatory perhaps is the pain of knowing you are going to Heaven but you aren’t there yet. The longing to see God must be a great pain for the soul, but we don’t know for sure.
We should pray for the souls that everyone has forgotten. They have a greater interest rate because no one has remembered them. Think of all the people who lived around the Pacific Rim on December 26th last year when the Tsunami hit; it just reached up to shore and dragged whole families out to the ocean and they died right there. So they have no families to pray for them, they have no one alive to pray for them. Also perhaps, many of them were pagan so no one who could pray for them that were left alive would pray for them. But we can reach right in and pray for them; we can pray for the most forgotten souls in Purgatory. We have to see that we have everything at our disposal and everyday great sacrifices come our way. Every day we have life so we have an opportunity to do something.
“The last thing you should do before you go to sleep at night is say a prayer for the Poor Souls in purgatory because by morning you may be in their company.”
And we pray, as the church has ever prayed: Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, And let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.Amen.And may the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace… Amen.