November is the month of the Poor Souls sometimes referred to as the Holy Souls. They are called Poor Souls because those in purgatory can do nothing to help themselves, they cannot pray for themselves or perform works of charity to help them along the way to heaven. They are entirely dependent on others, you and me and the Church to pray for them and to perform acts of charity to hasten on their journey to God’s heavenly kingdom.
November is the month of the dead, which sounds like the title of a horror movie, but it is not, it is just a special time to pray for those who have died. Death is a very scary prospect for the vast majority of people, and the reason for that is because we do not understand what death is other than our life on earth is finished and our body separates from the soul.
When gain a much better understanding of death when we look at it through the eyes of faith. The Word of God teaches us in many parts of the Bible that death is not the end of life, but simply a change. John’s Gospel, chapter 14:1-6, Jesus speaks very plainly that He has gone to prepare a place for us in His Father’s house so that where He is we also may be. In the Book of Wisdom, chapter 3, God tells us that the souls of the just are in the Hand of God and no torment shall touch them. There are many such passages in the Bible that make it clear that death is not the end of life.
God did not create death, and He never meant for us to die. Death came into the world as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve. God became a human being, suffered and died on the cross and in doing so He conquered death forever. Our participation in the sacramental life of the Church empowers us to share in this victory and in the gift of eternal life that God meant us to have when He created us.
God created us to live forever, and He is true to His promise no matter what we do all we need to do is believe and trust in His mercy. No matter how much we sin and turn away rom God, He is always there to forgive us as long as we are willing to seek His forgiveness in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. There is no sin so great that God will not forgives as long as we turn to Him.
The real reason a lot of people fear death is because of sin and our inability to trust in God’s mercy. We have the beautiful image of Divine Mercy in our Chapel of Divine Mercy where we can go and pray before the Blessed Sacrament any time of the day or night. We can pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, a beautiful prayer that Jesus gave us through St. Faustina. This prayer is a very powerful one that we can and should pray when someone is dying.
As Jesus said many times in the Gospel, “Do not be afraid,” let us take His words to heart especially when it comes to death. In death we will meet Jesus face to face so what is there to fear? We should not be afraid to meet Jesus, the person who loves us more that anyone else ever could, the person who laid down His life so that we can live forever.
For those of you who use the parking lot across the street, PLEASE be careful crossing the street. There was an unfortunate accident two weeks ago in which a young parishioner was struck by a pickup truck. He was hospitalized and will make a recovery. Please keep him and his family, as well as the people in the pickup truck, in your prayers.
I always enjoyed going to the movies through most of my life. However, since covid I think I can count on one hand how many times I have been to a movie theatre. I am not exactly sure why that is since I still enjoy a good movie. I fill that need by using Amazon or Netflix or something like that. Some of you may remember that I would make a recommendation in my bulletin letter when I saw a good movie. Although I have not seen it yet, everything I have read about it seems very good. The movie is TRUTH or TREASON. It is about three teens who take on the Nazi government during World War II. The teens are members of the Mormon Church in Germany and begin to publish fliers exposing the Nazis and what they really stand for. Google it and you will find out where or how to see it. The movie is rated PG 13.
Another movie I heard about is called K Pop, Demon Hunters. This is not a good movie for your children to see because it is about evil disguised to appeal to young children with its cartoon appearance and lively soundtrack. Please do not be fooled. Remember, the devil does not come to us looking scary or ugly. He comes nicely packaged and very appealing. Movies, TV, and music try to make us think there is or ever could be a “good” witch, vampire, werewolf, or whatever else they try to throw at us and our children. Please be aware. Do not be fooled.
