I Belong to a Militant International Organization...and So Do You.

We have already discussed the Church Triumphant- the saints in heaven...and the Church Suffering- the holy souls in purgatory... today we will discuss the Church Militant- those of us on earth.

When we talk about the Church, we mean all Christians, not only the Catholic ones. Although there is a scandalous lack of unity among the followers of Christ, we remain ONE Church: Christ's Body and his Bride. Jesus told Peter, "You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, " (MT 16:18) Note, Jesus did not say he was building 30,000 different Christian denominations, but a Church - singular- which would stand the test of time. 

All Christian Churches have their origin in the Catholic Church. Every one of them- because for 15 centuries, the ONLY Christian Church was the Catholic Church. Along the way, individuals decided they didn't like this or that...and left and started worshiping on their own. We can talk about that another time... the point I want to make here is that all Christianity has it's roots in the single Church referred to in scripture: the original Christian Church IS the Catholic Church, and everyone who professes Christ is, at the root, a Catholic Christian.

Are there sinners in the Church? Of course there are. But the Church does not lose her holiness because of the sins of its members...if she did, the gates of hell would prevail. The Church is a hospital for sinners, not a shrine for saints. As Tim Staples puts it, " You don't leave Peter because of Judas."

Has the church done despicable things? No. People within the Church have, not the Church herself. 

The Church Triumphant, the Church Suffering, the Church Militant. We are the ones still running the race, fighting the fight. In Confirmation, we became soldiers for Christ, we are his army.

And just as an army needs unity of purpose, so do Christians.

We are the Church Militant. We must be unified if we are going to win souls for Jesus Christ. 
We must be unified in love of the Lord and  of our fellow man. 
We must be unified in prayer for each other and for the holy souls and with the intercession of the saints. 
We must see that the common ground we have in Christ is far more important than the differences we perceive.

Jesus prayed, "... that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me." (JN 17:21)

Unity. In the ONE Church he built on the rock of Peter. 

The Church Triumphant, the Church Suffering, the Church Militant. We are all part of the Communion of Saints. 

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.

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!