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Two major
events of the coming week
PRAISED BE JESUS
CHRIST!
(Now and Forever)
This next week, the Church urges us to focus our attention on two major
events. Nov. 1 is the feast of All Saints, a holy day of obligation.
Nov. 2 is not a holy day of obligation, but a most important day
nonetheless. We are called to remember the faithful departed.
In the early Church, martyrs were honored as superheroes. No one doubted
that they had “won” salvation. Martyrdom was the highest expression of
witness to the truth of Jesus Christ. Martyrdom was celebrated, not on
the anniversary of the person’s birth, but on the anniversary of death.
Evidence of this is found in a document titled The Martyrdom of Saint
Polycarp, which dates to the year 155 A.D.
As martyrs increased in number, it became impossible to commemorate them
all separately. As early as the fourth century, St. Ephraem (373 A.D.)
spoke about a feast at Edessa on May 13 which honored “the martyrs of
the whole world.” From St. John Chrysostom (407 A.D.) we learn that
Antioch had a similar feast on the first Sunday after Pentecost.
Veneration of the holy martyrs and of all the saints received special
impetus in the eighth century at the Second Council of Nicea. But, it
was in 844 that Pope Gregory IV chose Nov. 1 as a date for the annual
celebration of the saints of the Church.
Pope John XXIII explained in one of his talks: “Devotion to the saints
is not merely a mark of respect or a brief prayer on certain occasions
which seem to grow fewer as life proceeds, but a deeply felt spiritual
communion, an attentive study of the precious examples and lessons which
the saints give to cheer and encourage us.”
In honoring its saints on Nov. 1, the Church reminds all of us that we
have been called to holiness. That word (holiness) makes most people
nervous. I don’t know of anyone who looks upon himself or herself as a
holy person. Most people, I suspect, would be hard pressed to explain
what is meant by holiness. The recently issued United States Catholic
Catechism for Adults is helpful. It defines holiness as “a state of
goodness in which a person, with the help of God’s grace, and the action
of the Holy Spirit, in the life of prayer, is freed from sin and evil.
Such a person, when gifted with holiness, must still resist temptation,
repent of sins that may be committed, and realize that remaining holy is
a lifelong pilgrimage with many spiritual and moral challenges.” It
adds: “The struggles evident in the lives of the saints are instructive
when trying to explain and describe holiness.”
On Nov. 1, the Church points to “saints,” both canonized and uncanonized,
and says “holiness is doable.” All these people who have preceded you
became holy. You, too, can become holy. It’s a pep session, if you will.
A reminder that there are always those among us who live lives of heroic
virtue and a call for us to pursue the call to holiness received when we
are baptized ourselves. In doing so it is important to keep in mind the
saints are eager to inspire and encourage us.
The commemoration of the faithful departed is rooted in Catholic belief
that just as the saints can help us, we can help those who have passed
through the door of death in the state of sanctifying grace.
When a person dies, that person enters into blessedness (either
immediately or through a purification known as purgatory) or
ever-lasting damnation. Hell is real. It isn’t known whether or which
human beings are in the state of hell. It is known that God predestines
no one to hell and that to experience hell a soul must willfully turn
away from God via mortal sin and persist in that state until death. But,
hell is real.
At the same time, the power of the sanctification won for us by the
life, death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ is never to be
underestimated. Salvation is guaranteed, John Paul II taught, to all who
place their trust in Christ, admit their sinfulness and seek to be
reconciled with God.
Nonetheless, while all who die in the state of sanctifying grace are
assured eternal salvation, attraction to sin must be jettisoned before a
soul experiences the union with God we call heaven. While we can achieve
this detachment in this life, for most it is completed after death.
Because every attachment to evil must be eliminated, and every
imperfection of the soul corrected before one is comfortable in the
presence of the holiness of God, in his infinite mercy, God has given us
purgatory. A soul would not be at peace were it to enter the presence of
that holiness without this purification. Purgatory is not a post-life
opportunity to change one’s eternal destiny. Rather, those who find
themselves in the state of purgation are united both with the blessed
who already enjoy the fullness of eternal life and with those of us who
are still on our way toward the door of death.
Here is how the Adult Catechism puts it: “Those who die in the
state of friendship with God, but who are not fully purified and
perfected, are assured of their eternal salvation. However, they must
undergo a purification to obtain the perfection of love and holiness
needed to enter heaven where they have a heart that is totally open to
him. This process is called purgatory.”
The Catechism goes on to state: “It is impossible for us to
imagine what purgatory is. Traditionally, it has been described as a
purifying fire. Since the human soul cannot be touched by earthly
flames, this image serves to recall that perfect love is achieved by a
gradual and painful spiritual detachment from selfishness and
self-centeredness. The Church assists those in purgatory through prayer
and especially the Eucharist in their final process of purification.”
With this conviction, the Church honors the memory of the dead in a
special way on Nov. 2. It’s a practice rooted in the conviction that
outreach to the faithful departed assists them in the shedding of
selfishness and self-centeredness necessary to find genuine peace in the
presence of God. A deep and unbroken Catholic conviction, too, is that
the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass has pre-eminence among the prayers, good
works, alms and acts of religion which believers are encouraged to offer
on behalf of the dead.
Temporal punishment due to sins forgiven and indulgences are also part
of the focus the Church puts on the faithful departed, but limited space
doesn’t allow me to travel that road in this issue.
Nov. 2 is a golden opportunity for us to remember our deceased loved
ones. Many people do that by participating in Mass. If that is not your
custom, I highly recommend it to you. |
