Monday, November 2, All Souls Day
1 Samuel, Chapter
13, Verse 6-7
6 When the soldiers saw they were in danger
because the army was hardpressed, they hid themselves in caves, thickets,
rocks, caverns, and cisterns. 7 Other Hebrews crossed the Jordan into the
land of Gad and Gilead. Saul, however, held out in Gilgal, all his army
trembling in fear behind him.
This was a low point for Israel.
Probably many of them thought,
"What we really need is a king. A king would solve our problems." Now
they have a king and the problems are still there. We often think things will
"fix" problems when they won't at all. "And hereby God intended
to teach them the vanity of all carnal confidence in men; and that they did not
one jot less need the help and favor of God now than they did before, when they
had no king."[1]
Men are fickled things when
faith and trust in God leaves fear
and pride enter. We see this in the response of the Jew’s to Pilate. When Pilate heard these
words he brought Jesus out and seated him* on
the judge’s bench in the place called Stone Pavement, in Hebrew, Gabbatha. It was preparation day for Passover, and it was about noon.
And he said to the Jews, “Behold, your king!” They cried
out, “Take him away, take him away! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Shall I
crucify your king?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but Caesar.” (John 19:13-15)
Comparing David with
Saul the one thing that distinguished them from each other was David’s humility
and confidence in the Lord. This we can see in David’s Psalm 23.
The LORD is my
shepherd; there is nothing I lack. In green pastures he makes me lie down; to
still waters he leads me; he restores my soul. He guides me along right paths for
the sake of his name. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of
death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff
comfort me. You set a table before me in front of my enemies; You anoint my
head with oil; my cup overflows. Indeed, goodness and mercy* will pursue
me all the days of my life; I will dwell in the house of the LORD for endless days.
With the same humble
confidence as David let us pray for our departed dead on this All Souls Day.
ALL SOULS DAY is the annual commemoration
of all those souls who departed this life in the grace and favor of God but who
are still detained in purgatory. Purgatory is that third place in the other world
in which the souls of the departed suffer the temporal punishment of those sins
for which in life they have not sufficiently atoned, and in which they are
purified until they are worthy to appear in the presence of God.
How
can we assist the souls suffering in purgatory? 1. By our prayers. The Holy
Scripture says; It is a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that
they may be loosed from sins. The Catholic Church has therefore always taught that
the prayer of the faithful for the departed is holy and wholesome. 2. By the
holy sacrifice of the Mass, the fruits of which are most beneficial to the souls
in purgatory. For this reason holy Church has always, from the time of the apostles,
remembered the dead in the holy Mass. 3. By gaining indulgences, and other good
works, by which we supplicate God to show mercy to the souls of the suffering, to
accept what is performed by us in satisfaction for the punishment to be endured
by them, and to bring them into the kingdom of everlasting peace and light.
(Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896)
An excellent book on
purgatory, by Rev. F.X. Schouppe, S.J., entitled, Purgatory
is worth checking out; after the death of my own father reading it brought
me much consolation.
Please pray for the repose of the soul of Diane Havermale; mother of seven!
Please pray for the repose of the soul of Diane Havermale; mother of seven!
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