Since early October many of our
parishioners as well as non-parishioners have come to inscribe the names of departed
souls in the “Book of Remembrance” which is left here in our parish office.
Today the book contains about 4,231 names of our loved ones who comprise our family members and relatives, i.e. our grandparents, parents, spouses, siblings, aunts and
uncles and friends who have died and are likely in purgatory. Our
Catholic teaching speaks about after death, i.e. there is a period of
purification which occurs in a place of Purgatory. We should remember our dear ones with gratitude and we
pray for them.
Can we help those who are in
purgatory? Definitely we can help them. There are countless souls in purgatory in need of our
prayers. We may have forgotten and neglected them in our prayers. The souls in
purgatory are suffering in a very real and painful way, a way we cannot fully
comprehend. We have the ability to help them and relieve them by our prayers
and actions.
The month
of November begins by remembering All Saints on November 1st and All
Souls on November 2nd. On these two days most of you came together
with your families to the Church and prayed for the souls of your loved ones.
The Catholic Church dedicates the month of November to pray for the dead. That's why the Church provides
us with a memorial Mass for all the faithful departed every November 2nd
and invites all its members to remember to pray for them throughout the month
of November.
As your
parish priest I shall continue to offer up all the names collectively during
the weekday and weekend Masses this month of November. During the weekend
Masses the Social Media group will play the audio, the Requiem hymn in Latin and we shall kneel and remember them in
prayers. We have been doing it these past 3 years during the month of November.
Once again, we join our hands in prayers and offer Masses asking God to be
merciful to them and to forgive all their sins which they have committed during
their lifetime and bring them into their eternal reward. We offer our prayers,
Masses, our love and our recommendation for the souls in purgatory to God who
are probably not
yet enjoying the fullness of His love.
Paying a visit to the
departed in the cemetery or at the columbarium is a solemn occasion. Some of
you are really caught up with your tight schedule and have not visited them in
the cemetery or columbarium. Do make it a
point to go and pay a visit to your departed relatives and loved ones and say a
prayer and if possible light some candles or place a bouquet of flowers there.
We hope that the small sacrifice
of time and prayers we make in this life will bring joy of meeting them in
heaven one day and realising that we have helped them with our prayers. All
Souls day also reminds us about our death. Everybody dies. Nobody
lives forever. Each one of us is given an extremely limited time on this
earth. How are you doing with your time? Are you doing God’s work with your
life? It is time for all of us to get serious about our faith, our life
and our deaths.
During this month, let us renew our commitment
to praying for our brothers and sisters who suffer in the purifying love of
God. Let us continue
to pray for our departed loved ones and friends, and live our lives in the hope
of eternal life.
A short prayer for the Holy Souls:
Eternal
Rest Grant Unto Them O Lord,
and Let Perpetual Light Shine Upon Them.
May They
Rest In Peace. Amen.
Requiem Aeternam dona eis, Domine
Et lux perpetua luceat eis:
Requiescant in pace. Amen.
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