REFLECTION/HOMILY ON THE COMMEMORATION OF THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED 2ND NOVEMBER 2023

REFLECTION/HOMILY ON THE COMMEMORATION OF THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED 2ND NOVEMBER 2023

Wis.3:1-9; Ps.23; Romans 5:5-11; Matthew 5:1-12a

Pray for the Dead

Today, we commemorate all the faithful departed. We do so first because, our faith teaches us that in death, life is not ended but changed. So, our departed love ones have not gone into extinction but have transcended into immortality. If this immortal state is not in heaven then it is in agony. Second, we believe in the communion of Saints. The Church comprises of the triumphant, the militant and the suffering Church. None of these is entirely isolated from the other. Yesterday, we celebrated our communion with the triumphant Church; today, we are celebrating our communion with the suffering Church. In yesterday’s celebration, we asked for the intercession of the Saints. Today, we specially fulfil our obligation to pray for the dead.

We are able to pray for the dead because God in his infinite mercy has not reserved judgment to two extremes: heaven and hell. After death there is no repentance. But then, if an iota of sin was to be enough reason to warrant hell, then, the door of salvation would have been narrower than the eye of a needle. Purgatory is God’s mercy and opportunity for souls (with no serious sin for condemnation, yet not pure enough for heaven) to be purified.

This is quite easy to understand. When an institution makes laws, punishments for offenders are never the same. If a punishment must be just, it must be commensurate with the offence committed. Consequently, God, who is justice himself, cannot reward every sin with same condemnation. However, for a serious minded Christian, purgatory is not something to aim at. When we do so, we are already entertaining some form of mediocrity in our spiritual life. Once you settle for mediocrity you no longer have the power to determine the depth of its puncture.

It is our prayers that can alleviate the sufferings of those in purgatory. We do not pray because we are sure of those who are there; neither do we pray with the expectation that when someone’s suffering has been alleviated, we will be informed so that we stop praying. We pray charitably for the dead because whoever is in purgatory needs it.

Usually, when we loose those we have known, we spend time mourning, preparing for burial, sharing properties and so on, with little or no thought of praying for them. Thanks to the Christian funeral rites; but then, no sooner than it is over, we only give a psychological remembrance to the dead. Today’s celebration reminds and avails us the opportunity to always pray for the dead. That is the best and only thing we can do for them. Whatever we may have put into their graves during the burial or used in decorating the grave yard does not loosen them from purgatory. Only prayer does!

As we pray to alleviate their pains, we must also be conscious of those around us whose pain we have to alleviate too. Just as you cannot love God whom you have not seen and hate your neighbour whom you see; so also, we cannot be genuine in our effort to alleviate the pains of those we do not see when we ignore the suffering ones around us. Therefore, the spiritual work of mercy of praying for the dead is concretely practiced in the corporal works of mercy. May the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.