All Souls Day 2 November 2025
If you are going to Buckingham palace you would make sure you behave a bit better than usual. And put on your best clothes.
What if you could go to heaven for half an hour? Even more so we would want to be as clean as possible, to do justice to the occasion.
We have to make a transition from earth to heaven. We are not ready for heaven, insofar as nothing imperfect can enter there. And who among us is perfect?
We need and we want to grow in our love for God. He loves us certainly, but do we love Him?
We are not sure how much we love God, but whatever the amount it can always be increased. By prayer, sacraments, obedience, service, making Him known to others. etc
So we shed the sin and its effects and we prepare for Heaven, our true home. This is a liberating thing, because we discover our true selves as we discover God.
Can we help each other to grow in the love of God? This is how All Souls works. We become conscious of our corporate identity. We make up the Body of Christ, and that body is powerful, doing good to all who belong, or are seeking their way.
A healthy body will help the sick member to recover. So in faith the more the Church seeks to love God, the more grace and mercy will act on others.
We never stop searching for God and even in Heaven we will behold him, but not fully comprehend. We cannot know everything about an infinite being.
We are made to know love and serve God. This is built into us and must be embraced, no matter what other worthy pursuits we may have.
For the vitality of the Church we need many members activating the grace that God is seeking to shower upon us. What we do here will help people all over the world, and in purgatory too.
The dead need our prayers in case they did not reach their full potential in their earthly life.
We pray for them, that if they need to perfect their love for God, or to remove any remnants of sin, it will happen. The prayers of the Church will assist and accelerate the process.
What is bad can be made good, what is good can be better.
We pray for all faithful departed. They need it, and we do it.
We might need others to pray for us when we die.
The dead cannot do much on their own behalf; they have to rely on others to pray for them. Their situation could be likened to being trapped under rubble and not able to move; but others can pull you out. You meanwhile feel your predicament but have hope you will be released.
But sometimes people might be left without any help, so we pray for the lost souls, the least loved of all, as well as those we know and love.
The crucial point to resolve is how much we love God. We don’t compare with others, except by way of being inspired by good example. We strive to reach God, like a drowning man reaching out for whatever can keep him afloat.
Purgatory has that sense of holy desperation, where the longing is painful but also sweet. Like we have on earth only much more intense.
The Church gives us one special day (All Souls) and one special month (November), but every day we mention the faithful departed. Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord. Lest we forget.
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