This weekend begins November and a month to remember the dead. As we get older, we know more and more people who have died. We miss them. Miss being around them, hearing their voice, their laugher, there is just so much we miss about those who have died. Death is never an easy thing, even when someone has lived to 120. And yet we know it is something that we are going to deal with. Death will come to us all sooner or later. Still, there are some things you and I can do to help the dead. First, and foremost, we are called to pray for all who have died. We don’t know where they are, and so, if someone is in Purgatory, we can ask God to help them to be free of their attachments so that they can be with God in Heaven. People say to me, “why Purgatory?” Because we cannot be in the midst of God who is perfect and without blemish (sin) unless we are without blemish (sin). And most of us have some blemish (venial sin) when we die. Remember if we die in the state of mortal sin, there is one and only one way we can go, and it is not toward Heaven nor Purgatory. So we do not want to die in mortal sin, and truly we don’t want to die with any venial sin and with attachments to sin, but if we die in venial sin and with attachments to sin, we will have time in Purgatory. And the amount of venial sins and how many attachments to sins we have when we die will influence how long we need to spend in Purgatory. But the good news is that with our prayers we can help those along in Purgatory. One of the best ways to help those souls in Purgatory is to have Masses offered for the deceased. At every Mass, we can even offer our communion reception for those who have died. So pray, pray, pray for those who have died.
Fr. Thomas P. Galarneault