All Soul's Day Homily

At most funerals that we attend we are assured by the preacher that our loved one is now in Heaven and thus they are now numbered as one of the saints. This leaves the impression upon us that if all people go to Heaven when they die that we no longer have a need to pray for the dead. After all funerals in our modern age are commonly seen as being a celebration of a person's life instead of us realizing our need to act with charity by actually praying for their soul. Even among Catholics this mindset has seemed to seep into our thought because many are okay with not having a funeral Mass offered for them. It is said that my family is not Catholic and therefore there is no merit in having a Mass offered because after all the funeral is all about them and it is not about me. If you were to analyze the text of the Funeral Mass you would realize that the words being used are not celebrating a person's life on this earth, but instead are actually offering petition on their behalf. Yes the Funeral Mass should bring comfort and healing to people who struggle with loss because with death we encounter the hope and the joy of Christ's Resurrection, but we also come to the Funeral Mass to offer our prayers for the dead.

All Souls Day is not about veneration to the dead. That is what All Saint's Day is for because on that day we acknowledge each and every single saint that has now been joined with God in Heaven. All Souls Day is similar because those who we pray for today have already been judged as being worthy for Heaven which means that they will one day be venerated on All Saints Day, but they must first pass through the state of Purgatory. For the past fifty years there are a few options that have been given for the liturgical color of this day (white, violet, and black), but the only option prior to these fifty years was black. Black vestments symbolize for our minds the reality that we do indeed mourn with death, but they also symbolize the fact that we are sinful and thus at times miss the mark of faithfully living out our life of faith. Black vestments are not without hope because upon them we will notice grey or gold which symbolizes the great fact that in Purgatory our soul is made clean and thus one is slowly being ushered into the joys of the Heavenly Kingdom.

From the Book of Wisdom we heard: "As gold in the furnace, he proved them." This line from the Book of Wisdom is expressing the Church's teaching of Purgatory to us. Gold is placed into a furnace because this is the only way that one is able to get the impurities out of the gold. Whenever gold is placed into fire these impurities rise to the top and are next wiped away from the gold which only leaves the gold behind. This is exactly what is taking place within Purgatory concerning the souls who find themselves in this state. They have died with impurities maybe from the effects of past sin, continued attraction towards sin, or scandal that they have caused. Souls who have been tainted in this manner cannot enter directly into Heaven without first being purged of these many impurities as gold is tested in fire. As is stated to us in the Book of Revelation: "Nothing unclean will enter into Heaven." Indeed it would be painful if the opposite were true because we will still have a longing for something other then union with God when we get to Heaven. Purgatory is not to be feared because eventually all of the souls who find themselves here will be welcomed into the Heavenly Kingdom. May we assist these souls on their journey by offering our prayers and our sacrifice on their behalf. This is what scripture is telling us to do in 2nd Maccabees by saying: "He made atonement for the dead that they may be freed from sin." 

I hope that this All Soul's Day will help us to see the need to pray for the dead and to also begin to orient our own life towards God now because eventually we will face the reality of our own mortality. It is death which is the only thing that we claim that we are entitled to receive in this life therefore may we prepare ourself for it. May we also take it upon ourself to pray for the souls of our family, friends, and all souls in general. At most Catholic funerals that we attend we receive a holy card with the individual's name written on the back. When we come across these cards in books or laying on a table they serve as a reminder for our need to offer a pray on their behalf. If it is possible, today would be the perfect day to visit the cemetery where a loved one is buried and to stop and offer a prayer on their behalf. We at this parish are blessed to have the columbarium right outside of the Church making it easy for us to do so following the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Speaking of the Mass this is the perfect gift that we can give to the souls of the faithful departed. All that one has to do is go to the parish office and request a Mass to be offered for the repose of the soul of a loved one. May we always make the effort to orient our life towards Heaven while we still have the opportunity, and may we also take the time to pray for all the souls of the faithful departed which through the mercy of God may they rest in peace.