November, Month of All Souls

CHERISH THE MEMORY...Our Catholic Faith teaches us to cherish the memory of our dead. It urges us to commune in prayer, especially at Mass, with the souls of those we loved while they walked this Earth. We are continually reminded that “life is changed, not ended.”

 THE GOD OF LOVE...It is our belief that at the moment of death, we will experience our ultimate encounter with the God of Love. In this encounter, we will experience God more vividly than ever before because our spirit will be free of all human constraints. For some, this will be a very painful encounter because they will see their faults magnified in contrast with the goodness of God. Many believe that the pain of this encounter constitutes the essence of the doctrine of Purgatory. To own up to one’s selfishness and meanness can be terribly painful, as we all know. To do so in the presence of Holiness Itself must constitute the ultimate purgation.

 “LOVE NEVER FAILS”...It is useless to speculate on the duration of this final, cleansing encounter with our God because “time,” as we understand it on Earth, has no meaning in the realm of eternity. Hence, our Faith very sensibly teaches us to forget “time” and commune in prayer with our dead. Just as “the living” are helped over the rough spots of this early life by experiencing the love, sympathy and solidarity of their friends, so also we believe that the dead are consoled and helped as they pass through the often painful “cleansing” of their ultimate encounter with God. How sad it is when we get so hung up on the earthly concept of “time” that we allow our active love and concern to stop at the moment of earthly death.

 FULL OF HOPE AND LOVE...During the month of November, we will offer Mass each day for the Holy Souls. As Christ commanded that the Mass be offered for all time so that the meaning of His death would never be forgotten, so we offer Mass for our dead in the sure and certain knowledge that, because of Christ’s death, they have eternal life. Our Catholic devotion to the Holy Souls, far from being morbid, is actually full of hope and love. It speaks to something very deep within us, where spirit communes with spirit, whether we realize it our not.

In accordance with Assumption tradition, a special Mass will be celebrated on Saturday, November 2 at 9:00 AM at Florence Cemetery. All are welcome.