All Saints-All Souls

The month of November brings us colder weather, trees shedding their leaves and afternoons that darken earlier and earlier.  It is a time when the vibrant life of spring and summer gives way to the cold sleep of winter.  In the midst of nature’s seasonal dying it is easy to become depressed.  People often suffer from depression during the winter months, when sun light is scarce.  But the Church gives us two major feasts to remind us that, while all thing die, God is the God of the living, and we should always have hope in Christ’s promise of eternal springtime.

Today, November 1^st, is the Solemnity of All Saints.  While there are hundreds of saints that the Church has canonized and remembers on particular feast days, heaven is filled will billions of unknown souls who followed the Gospel faithfully and heroically.  Maybe they lived in far off places and were not well known during their lives.  Maybe they weren’t members of large religious orders who could promote their cause for canonization.  But their names are known to God, and live with Him now.  They came from all walks of life: rich and poor; married and single; priests, nuns and brothers. But no matter what station in life they came from they loved Christ and served Him heroically in their neighbor.  They remind us that we are all called to be saints.  If we are baptized then we too have this vocation and capacity.  Holiness is for all of us, not just for the few.  We too are called to be saints.  

November 2^nd is the Commemoration of the Faithfully Departed.  A person who has died with their sins forgiven is assured of eternal salvation.  But sins have a negative effect on the soul, much like a scar disfigures our body.  We must first undergo a purification before entering into the presence of God.  If we have not gone through this purification on earth, then we do so after death.  The Church has traditionally called this purification Purgatory.  We base our belief in this purification, in part, on the practice of making sacrifices for the dead found in the Old Testament (2 Macc. 12:46) and the words of Jesus (Mt. 12:31) and St Paul (1 Cor, 3:15).  We on earth can help these souls along on their way to heaven by our prayers and sacrifices.  We should take consolation in knowing that every Mass is offered for the dead, even if they are not mentioned in the official intention.  And if we are not sure if a loved one needs our prays, offer them any way.  The Holy Spirit will “redirect” those intentions to someone who does need it.

November brings us closer to the death of winter, but Christ brings us the hope of eternal life.  If we have lived heroically, or if we have failed often but have turned back to the Lord for forgiveness, let us rejoice that we have a loving God who wants us to live with Him for eternity.  He gives us all we need to reach the heights of heaven, our true home and eternal Springtime.