Saturday 2nd November
2019. Bible Study: Job 19:1-27, Psalm 23:1-6, Romans 5:5-11 and Matthew 5:1-12.
_“Hope
does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts.”
*Romans 5:5*_
Yesterday
was All Saints day, today is All Souls Day. Our celebration today is both
bitter and sweet. Bitter because we remember our dead, sweet because we know
the power of our prayers on their behalf. Our celebration today is not too
different from what we do at funeral masses except that on this day, the number
of caskets lying before the altar is simply impossible to count.
It is easy
for us to remember and pray for our close relatives, our friends, our parents,
our colleagues, those with whom we shared good times, but today is also the
chance to remember and pray for those who have no one to pray for them, those
who didn’t have the chance of a befitting burial, the unknown souls; victims of
natural disasters. (flooding, earthquakes, typhoon, and so on). We also
remember victims of abortion, sales of expired drugs and fake food, holocausts,
war and so on.
*Why do we
pray for the dead?*
*One:* Prayer
is the only real gift we render to them. The dead do not need your eulogies, they
don’t need graves made of gold, they don’t need flowers made of diamond, they don’t
need dignitaries attending their burial, houses built with speed of lightening,
spraying money, killing cows; all that is useless to them. The only thing that
matters to them is our prayers.
Yesterday
we spoke about the saints praying for us. Today, we are ones praying for the
souls of the departed. This reciprocity of prayers clearly defines our faith in
the existence of purgatory; a place that is neither hell nor heaven where souls
receive purgation (cleansing) from any stain of sin or impurity before going to
heaven. We pray for all the dead because if they are in purgatory, our prayers help
to shorten their stay there. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, No. 1030)
*Two:* The
saying is very true that “you will know your true value when you consider the
speed with which you will be forgotten after your death.” By praying for the
dead, we become wiser and better because we remind ourselves of our own death. Death
is a great teacher and one of its lessons is the equality of all humans. Looking
down on others or treating people with disdain, coldness or unforgiveness is
senseless. We are simply travellers on earth. This world is not our home.
In the
end, what we celebrate today is HOPE. Hope that as we pray for the dead, they
will enter heaven, hope that if they are in heaven, they will pray for us. Hope
that one day, when we too depart, there would be people around here praying for
us. St. Paul tells us in our second reading today that Hope does not disappoint
us.
Together
with Job in our first reading, we sing: “I know my Redeemer lives.” I know God
who is my Redeemer will not abandon me even after my death. I know I shall see
God, whom I shall see on my side. Our Psalmist continues this song saying “The
Lord is my Shepherd… surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of
my life. In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for length of days unending.”
Finally,
just like yesterday, we hear Jesus repeat the beatitudes again. As we hear
these beatitudes again, we are made to understand that they apply not only to
the Saints but to all departed souls. By repeating this reading, the church
wants us to meditate on what is important; the beatitudes.
Let us
pray: Lord Jesus, deepen our hope of resurrection for your departed servants.
Amen.
*Be Happy.
Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Commemoration
of All Souls. Bible Study: Job 19:1-27, Psalm 23:1-6, Romans 5:5-11 and Matthew
5:1-12).*
Fr. Abu.
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