His Word Today: All Souls'

Good morning everyone,

Today, the Church celebrates the Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed, otherwise known as All Souls' Day.

Yesterday, on All Saints' Day, we celebrated the feast day of all the Saints: those who have gone before us and now celebrate the fullness of life in the presence of our Lord and Saviour.  Today, our attention turns to those who have completed their earthly journey but who still need some degree of purifying before they can see God (the souls in purgatory).  The Church teaches that those of us who are alive here on earth can offer prayers for the souls in purgatory.  These souls are the object of our prayer today.

A word of reassurance for the sake of these souls in purgatory can be found in the gospel passage proposed for today's Mass.  Speaking to the crowd, Jesus said: Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me (Jn 6:37).  God the Father sent Jesus - his son - to live among us so that he could show us the way to the Father.  Jesus suffered and died for us and even now, he shows us the way to the Father, constantly walking beside us until we all stand before our God, singing together in one chorus of praise.

There is no way for us to know with any degree of certainty which souls are still in purgatory but we can offer our prayers for them, asking Jesus to have mercy on their souls and to welcome them into the fullness of his kingdom, our heavenly home.

Have a great day!