All Souls
Death and Judgement
Today is the Feast of All Souls, a day to remind us as the CCC says (1021-22) that Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifest in Christ…Each man receives his eternal recompense in his immortal soul at the very moment of death in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ.
There are three possible outcomes of our particular judgment: either immediate entrance into the blessedness of heaven or immediate and everlasting damnation.
Thankfully, due to the mercy of God there is a third possibility – that of Purgatory.
All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. This reality is known as purgatory. (CCC 1030)
The Feast of All Souls is an important reminder that we can help those who in purgatory more quickly reach heaven by our prayer, especially when we are at Mass and by offering our suffering for them; they in turn can help us as we journey toward heaven. This Feast of All Souls reminds us that we need each other – so don’t forget them, help them and they will help you!
Purgatory in the Bible
People say I don’t believe in Purgatory because it is not in the Bible. The Bible speaks of three places after death: Heaven, Hell (which Jesus calls Gehenna), and the third place, in Hebrew, called Sheol, or in Greek, Hades. When St. Jerome translated the Bible from Hebrew and Greek to the universal language of the time, Latin, the word he chose for sheol and hades was purgatorium. So while the word purgatory is not in the original language of the Bible, Purgatory is a reality, and there are souls experiencing it right now who need our help – many of them are our family and friends and we can help them by this Rosary.
Biblical passages that speak of Hades/Purgatory: Matthew 11:23; Luke 10:15; Acts 2:27,31; Revelation 1:18; Rev 6:8; Rev 20:13-14
Purifying Love
How should we understanding Purgatory
Hebrews 12:29 tells us God is a “consuming fire of love”
Purgatory is not a Prison
· Not a place of Punishment
· Nor a Holding tank
· Or a Place of Waiting
Purgatory is
· a purification of everything that prevents you
· from possessing God fully
God is a consuming Fire of love
· He burns for love of us
His desire for us
· Inflames our desire for Him
As we come nearer to Him
· We desire Him more and more
· We let go
· We get rid of our disordered attachments
· These are Burned away in the fire of God’s love and the fire of our desire for God
Faustina was taken to souls in Purgatory
· They said their greatest torment was longing for God (Diary 20)
· Their desire for God was a purifying fire
In the Diary of Divine Mercy (36) St. Faustina describes how she was allowed to experience her particular judgment. As soon as she was shown what prevented her from possessing God fully, she wanted to throw herself into the flames of purgatory to have everything that stood between her and God burned away.
Helping Those in Purgatory
The Church on earth in purgatory and in heaven is the family of God joined together by the Holy Spirit. In this family God our Father enables His children to help one another by their prayer, work, joy, suffering and sacrifice. God accepts these gifts from his children and uses them to bring grace to our brothers and sisters in need whether on earth or in Purgatory. In this way we can help the poor souls in Purgatory to reach heaven. The fact that we can help those who have died goes all the way back to the Old Testament. In chapter 12 of 2 Maccabees, we read that faithful Jews prayed for their fallen comrades after a battle. The Bible describes this as an honorable deed, and the passage closes with the statement: “Therefore he made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin” (2 Mac. 12:45). This passage illustrates the Jewish belief that prayer for the dead was helpful to them and pleasing to God. This belief continued into Christian times and so the Church teaches that:
CCC 1032 “From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.”
Diary 1382-83 St. Faustina relates an instance of helping a soul in purgatory
When Sister Dominic died at about 1 am
· She came to Faustina and let her know she had died
· that she needed the prayers of Faustina to help her through her purification in purgatory
Faustina promised her three days of prayer
· Then lost track of time and only offered 2 days
· Sister Dominic came to her again and reminded her that Faustina owed her a day
· And she desperately needed that last day to help her through purgatory. Faustina promptly responded and Sr. Dominic soon after returned – assured her she was experiencing the joy of heaven and thanked her.
As Faustina walked through the cemetery the souls in purgatory would plead to her for help Diary 314
Four Ways To Help Those in Purgatory
1. Offer the Infinite and Perfect prayer and sacrifice of Jesus in the Mass for souls in Purgatory
2. Accept with trust what you did not choose, do not like and cannot change and offer it with love to God to help purify your loved ones, friends and those who have no one to help them in purgatory.
3. The Rosary
4. Stations of the Cross and Divine Mercy Chaplet
Do not foger those who have died. Many of them still need our help. Will you help them?