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31st Sunday in Ordinary time Yr. C: All souls Day
The Joy of Purgatory!
There is fear of the unknown after death, but we live in the hope of eternal union with our loving God, who initiates a relationship with us at our baptism and continually invites us to respond. How we respond to God during our lifetime determines our life beyond death: in union with God or alienation. The first reading of today affirms that at death “the souls of the just are in the hand of God,” [Wis.3:1]. However, at death, not all the faithful departed possess the perfection that enables them to immediately enter the splendid presence of the “All-Holy God.” They undergo purgation in purgatory, “God purifies them like gold in the furnace,” [Wis. 3:5-6].
Purgatory has a bigger picture than its so-called sorrow or pain: “The Joy of purgatory.” The basis of the joy is “divine love.” Those in purgatory undergo purification in the burning and purifying love of God. They are in the process of getting 100% holiness. They are in the process of final and full “Beatific Vision,” so they “rejoice in their suffering,” St. Paul would say. Like the purifying process of raw gold through the furnace which makes it the most valuable and precious commodity.
We, the “Church Militant,” in our struggle against evil in our world, often do request for the burning effect of God’s love in our lives when we pray: “Come Holy Spirit fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love.” Because of this burning effect of God’s love, it’s most likely going to be a painful process. Human experience teaches us that human beings find it hard and painful to break a bad habit. But the result is true freedom which is worth the pain. Even so is the salvation of holy souls in purgatory. The joy of purgatory is that it’s a sweet pain that produces the result of a soul’s beatific vision with God.
Today’s feast reminds us also of our belief in “the Communion of the Saints,” and the spirit of communion of all the baptized who share one thing in common: “Children of God.” In the spirit, we are called to pray for the holy souls in purgatory as we are doing here and now in the Mass, today and always. God uses our prayers, and our act of love for the holy souls as an instrument of His grace for their purification. As we pray and offer Masses, we participate in their final glorification. We equally solicit for the intercession of the “Church Triumphant” [Saints], to assist us in our spiritual battle.
On this All Souls Day, let us remember our relatives and friends, and pray that they will soon become like refined gold fit for the crown of the eternal king. “O God, never let go of this glorious thought and joy you have orchestrated in this process for the truth of the communion to which we are called,” Amen.