Shedding a Little Light

“The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.” Wisdom 3:1

“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I shall raise Him on the last day.” John 6:40

There is so much comfort in today’s readings! Our Lord is a lover of souls! All souls, living and departed!

The Book of Wisdom tells us that God rebukes us little by little. He does this gently because he loves us and wants us to abandon our sinful ways and put all our trust and belief in him. Little by little we correct our course so that we might one day live in God’s kingdom. It is fitting then, as we celebrate All Soul’s Day today, that we remember not only our living souls and their striving for heaven, but all souls that have gone before us. We light a candle; we say a prayer, and we remember the departed.

Once, (at a much younger age) I asked Father Dyer (a former Pastor and Pastor Emeritus’ of St. Patrick’s, now departed) why we should pray for the dead. If they are gone, hasn’t God taken them or put them where they should go? I never forgot his answer. He said, “My dear you are thinking of prayer as something belonging to this linear timeline. God does not live in our timeline. God is outside of our span of time. God is past, present, and future all at once. The prayers we have said before, the one we are saying today and all our future prayers for departed souls will come together outside of this timeline with God and meet every soul at the doorway of death and departure from this world. So, pray for everyone who has gone before and especially, pray for those who have no one to pray for them, for they shall need our prayers as they open the door to new life.”

Wow! This came as such a revelation to me. I share his words here so that we all can pray more often and more fervently for those who have gone before us. I sure do want those prayers to meet me at my departure, don’t you? November is a month to remember our dead: all the saints; all the souls, family, and friends. Light a candle. Say a prayer. Offer a mass intention.

Share this gift of prayer with your children and grandchildren so that prayer will continue for the next generation and beyond. Let us all pray for one another, living and deceased, that we may all be allowed to enter the kingdom together when our life here is done. Please pray also for those who have no one to pray for them. They need us. Pray for me and I will be praying for you that we may

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Keep Living in the Light

Bernie