All Souls Day- The Church Suffering

Well, this is where some of our non-Catholic friends will get a little miffed. But here goes!

Yesterday we celebrated all the holy souls who are rejoicing in the presence of the Lord.

Today is All Soul's Day. This is the day we remember and pray for all the holy souls who are still waiting to enter heaven; they still need some final purification before they can make that last step past the metaphorical pearly gates.

We call the condition they are in now purgatory.

Yes- I know the word purgatory is not in the Bible. But then again, neither is Trinity- and it most certainly is a tenet of the Christian faith. Like Trinity, purgatory is a word assigned to something that is very explicitly described in scripture- yet never named.

First, know that at the moment we die, we have only two choices: heaven and hell. I say choices because God does not decide where we spend eternity, we do. Choose wisely.

Souls in purgatory are saved. That is a very important thing to remember- they will get to heaven. Eventually...and with a little help from those of us still working out our salvation with fear and trembling ( Philippians 2:12).

If you would like to read about the scriptural evidence for purgatory, you can find it HERE, along with evidence from the early Church fathers. There is simply far too much to go into here. As you read, remember- purgatory is proof of the grace, mercy and justice of God! And- as I said before- the souls in purgatory are saved, purgatory contradicts nothing in the Bible.

A few years ago I attended a non-Catholic funeral. The thing that surprised me was that nowhere in the funeral service was a single prayer offered for the souls of the deceased ( a father and his young son). Not a one. Only prayers for the wife/mother and siblings. Top that off with the fact that both preachers emphasized the separation from the two who had, how sad it was that it will be so long until they are together. You get the idea. It is, I'm sure, how many people feel about the death of a loved one.

How sad!  How terribly sad to wallow in your own sense of loss, when that is the last thing one should be doing.

You see... as Catholic Christians, we believe that when someone we care about leaves this life, WE have work to do, we have our marching orders....and we are still connected to those we love through the Communion of Saints.

So, we pray for them because we believe our prayers have value and are efficacious (meaning, they actually accomplish something) . We say prayers for their souls. We have Masses offered for them.
We offer up our own sufferings. We might obtain an indulgence for them ( more on that next week).

When I picture a metaphor for purgatory, I think of a great, flat wall. No foot or hand holds, nothing to grab.  We are below, boosting up the souls in purgatory, and the saints are above, reaching for their hands to pull them the rest of the way.  Those above and those below are there by the grace of God for those who need the help to get up the last bit of the wall. The purification itself has often been called the refiner's fire- an expression found in the Bible. It is not pleasant, and sometimes it does take place here on earth. God can do that if he wants. And he allows us to maintain that sense of connection with each other by offering prayers and good works on their behalf... boosting them the rest of the way.

Not long ago, the brother of an acquaintance passed away from a heart attack. He had suffered great physical and mental anguish over the years from PTSD. Before the funeral Mass, I was talking to a mutual friend and told him that I thought this man had done his purgatory here on earth and God would be merciful to him...but I was still planning to pray for him every day.

Another friend passed away this summer, and I have no idea what her relationship with the Lord was at that time. None of us can ever even know the answer to that question about ourselves. ( if you say you do, that is presumption, and it is a sin)  So I pray for her. Every day.

Imagine the additional sorrow of a soul in purgatory who has no one to pray for him! Imagine being so close to heaven, yet unable to enter because no one will pray for you because they mistakenly believe that once you take your final breath, you are in heaven.

So, when I pray for the holy souls, I pray for those I care about by name. But I also pray for people I have never met.
The soul closest to heaven.
The one farthest from heaven.
The one who most deserves it.
The one who least deserves it.
Just for fun, the 5387th from heaven.
...and- most importantly- all the souls who have no one to pray for them.

One day, I hope to look up and see their hands reaching down to pull me up that wall.

All Saints' Day- The Church Triumphant

Why do Catholics pray to the dead?

It's a question I've fielded many times, and one based on some simple misconceptions about the Catholic faith specifically- and Christianity in general.

First, a definition. To pray means "to make supplication or entreaty, as to a person or for a thing."  In short, "to pray" means "to ask." You may recall back in high school lit class, reading something like "Pray tell, dear sir...."  These days, the word is generally used in a religious context- we pray to God. We offer our petitions to the Lord, we also offer praise, thanksgiving, and contrition for our sins.

So, I ask again: why do Catholics pray to the dead?

The answer is quite simple: we do not "pray" to the saints in heaven in the same sense of the word PRAY that we use when praying to the Lord.

When any Catholic addresses a prayer to Mary or any other saint, we are doing the same thing as when we ask YOU to pray for us.... it is a request to join our prayers together to place before the Lord.

Let's find an example...

Suppose you are going to take a special girl out for a first date. You drive what my mother-in-law would have called a jalopy, I call them beaters. A car held together with chewing gum and baling wire: basic transportation  This is no car for a first date. You want to make a good impression and Dad has a late-model sedan that would be perfect.

You could walk right up to Dad and ask him. Nothing is stopping you from doing that. However, you know Mom understands your situation and you ask her to run the idea past Dad on your behalf.  Mom may even throw a few supporting arguments in there for you...you have good grades, you have been working hard, Dad remembers wanting to make a good impression with a girl.   These are all things you could point out to your father on your own. When Mom presents them, they become something of a character reference...and an additional voice is making the request.

Isn't it the same when we pray for each other?  If I ask you to pray for me for a specific intention, will you answer, " Don't come to me, just ask God yourself!"  I sure hope not! I would expect you to say, " Of course I will pray for you!" And...if you are like me...you will offer a quick prayer immediately, followed by a petition later. Sometimes I'll throw things into my prayer like, " Lord, you know how much so-and-so loves you..." or  "She's really been trying to live out her faith..."  You know- the character reference thing.

And how many Facebook and email prayer chains have you seen?    We pray for each other, and the saints pray for us. If the meager prayers of a friend can help you in any way, imagine how effective the prayers are of someone who stands before the throne of God!

You may have heard a favorite: Tony, Tony, come around. Something's lost and can't be found!  That's a prayer to St Anthony of Padua to help us locate lost items. It works.

Therese of Lisieux? When she has joined her prayers to yours, a rose will unexpectedly appear to let you know she is working with you. I have had it happen, more than once. A friend and I once got a DOZEN roses total when we were praying a novena together.

St. Jude ( patron of hopeless situations)? He can be a real powerhouse. Danny Thomas founded the St Jude Children's Research Hospital as a thank you for Jude's help in finding success in his field. His daughter now continues the gratitude. (BTW- St Jude helped me become a stay-at-home-mom 21 years ago this month.)

We ask St Francis of Assisi to watch over our pets for us. He's my personal favorite.

We ask St Michael the Archangel to guide and protect our military and police officers.

The list goes on and on. The canonized saints, the ones whom the Church has declared we know are in heaven have specific days for celebration, generally the day of their death, which is their birthday into heaven.

All Saints' Day, today, is the day we honor those who have not received that official designation. There are so many men and women in heaven who are indeed saints, and their sanctity is known to God alone. Today is their day, and we honor them along with the canonized saints for being our holy examples. They are the Church Triumphant; they have run the race and the victory is theirs!

So why can't we ask the saints in heaven...the very souls who stand in the presence of Almighty God... to pray for us?

We can. And we do. You see, they are not dead! This life, this existence is only a shadow... they have the eternal life we hope for, the promise given to us by Jesus Christ.  We are not "praying to the dead." We are asking those who are more alive than we are- those who stand before the throne of God- to add their prayers to our feeble prayers, to throw in a character reference or two, and to help us storm heaven with our requests.

When we do, we are living out the Communion of Saints!

Should Christians Celebrate Halloween?

Well, it's that time of year, ghosties and goblins roaming the neighborhoods...although these days, you are more likely to see a flock of Angry Birds and various incarnations of crime-fighting heroes mingling with the more traditional princesses, monsters and cereal -boxes.

And every year, the question comes up....should Christians be celebrating Halloween?

Our area is pretty conservative, and loaded with churches, Catholic, non-Catholic and non-Christian. The United Methodist church down the street from our house holds "trunk-or-treat."  Another area church sponsors "Eternal Destination- Hell House," which they do not outright describe, but you get the point.

With a heavy Hispanic population, we also have our Dia de los Muertos commemorations popping up, too.

What to do? How do you tackle the subject of the origins of Halloween with young, impressionable minds?

After raising seven young Catholic Americans, my advice ( take it or leave it) is this: let them have fun. Let them eat candy ( as long as they share with Mom and Dad). If you have enough kids, dress up as Snow White, Prince Charming and the Seven Dwarves. (Yeah. We did. We came in 2nd place to the Village People) And never let them forget the real meaning of Halloween: it is the eve ( vigil) of All Saint's day.

You see, the American incarnation of Halloween is just that: American. When I was in high school, our foreign exchange students never had any idea what was going on- can you imagine trying to explain it? "Kids dress up in costumes and knock on doors all over the neighborhood begging for candy. And almost everyone gives them some."

While some insist Halloween itself is pagan ( and there have been over the centuries and are pagan influences in its observance now), Halloween as a CHRISTIAN holiday dates back to the very early AD 600's: it is the night before All Saints' Day, a Holy Day of Obligation for Catholics ( meaning we go to Mass either the evening of 10/31 or the morning of 11/1...unless either of those days is already a Saturday or Sunday).

On All Saints' day, we honor those who have gone before us, marked with the sign of faith. You see, while the Church tells us when investigation has shown we can be certain a person is in heaven, there are countless souls who have not received that official designation ( called canonization), but whose souls are in heaven. All Saints' Day is for them, their own personal feast day. And the following day- November 2nd, we celebrate All Souls' Day, remembering the holy souls in purgatory, awaiting their entrance into heaven.

(We'll talk more about purgatory in November, because we take the entire month of November to pray in a special way for those who have died.)

So...how to approach Halloween with young ones if you want to avoid to spooky stuff?

Look at the heroes of our faith: the saints.

When I taught at St Charles, I had the 7th graders dress as saints and we did a presentation for the younger PSR students. When I post this on Facebook, I'll be curious to see if any of my former students say anything remembering that day. Haley, Lizzie, Jessica, Stephen, Jackie- I remember Chris... I do remember Jenny as St Francis of Assisi and Debbie as St Gianna Beretta Molla. Bailey as St Elizabeth Ann Seton. Corey was---a bishop-- and he had his OWN mitre... I think he was St Charles... (I know some of you I had 4th grade, but not 7th...)

When I was Catechetical Leader at St John's, I encouraged the children- and teachers- to dress up for our Halloween party.... as a saint or any person, living or dead, who has been a holy example in their lives. I dressed one year as Sister Mary Johnene Wellman ( of happy memory, who asked me to start teaching PSR- I blame her :-) ) There were many great examples. Priests and nuns and aunts and -yes- the occasional canonized saint. Emily, Savanah, Maddie, Bryce, Nicole, Schylar, MacKenzie, Colton... and their folks- any memories? Lucas and Jason both dressed as priests, though different years... Andrew was his grandfather, our deacon. Bryce was his dad.

We also took that day of our party to write on crosses the names of loved ones who have passed away and parishioners lost in the previous year. We put them on a bulletin board and prayed for them at the beginning and end of every class during November.

It was what Halloween should be, a joyful celebration of life and of our hope in Jesus Christ, and thanksgiving for the holy men and women he puts in our lives, who truly are the heroes of our faith....and a reminder that we must never forget to pray for the souls of those who have left our sight on this earth.

Let's reclaim Halloween as the Christian holiday it is meant to be!