Yesterday, the whole Universal Church celebrated the Solemnity of ALL SAINTS. Today, the Church celebrates the ALL SOULS Day. These two feasts manifest one fundamental truth of our faith, that is, we all belong to the BODY OF CHRIST. His body is composed of the Church Triumphant (the Saints in Heaven), the Church suffering (the souls in Purgatory), and the Pilgrim Church (the people here on earth).

As Christ's body, we help each other to attain our Salvation. The church's Triumphant (the Saints in heaven) together with us on earth, we can help our brothers and sisters in Purgatory to go to heaven through our prayers, sacrifices and acts of charity. This belief in Purgatory is what makes us Catholics different from Protestants and other Bible Christians because it is one of the dogmas of the Church.

Understandably, the Protestants and other Bible Christian denominations deny the existence of Purgatory because it is not based on Scriptures according to them. They only have 66 books in the Bible whereas we Catholics have 73 books in the Bible. Maccabees belongs to the 7 deuterocanonical books or second Canon. How can they believe in Purgatory because the biblical foundation of it is found in 2 Maccabees 12:46 "It is holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins." They don't have the book of Maccabees. Furthermore, the Sanctity and Justice of God points to the reality of Purgatory, a place to expiate or purge our sins before we enter heaven.

Hab 1:13 says this emphatically: "Your eyes are pure and you cannot look on iniquity." So, when iniquity manifests itself in us, the Sanctity of God demands expiation and justice. Let's develop that holy "fear of God", that is, to be afraid of God's justice and not to lose confidence in Him by giving utmost reverence on Him which is to avoid sin and hope for his mercy and salvation.

The Gospel reading today must give us hope for the eternal life that the Father graciously would give us. It is from John 6:37-40. This passage contains the promise of Jesus that he will not lose any of the ones that the Father has given him and that he will raise them up on the last day.

We are all given by the Father to Christ from the moment we were baptized. Jesus has promised that he won't allow anyone of us to be lost and he would raise us up. Of course, this promise has to be coupled by our cooperation in his grace by avoiding evil and sin, by being good and righteous in his sight, and by praying constantly for the grace of faithfulness and perseverance. To pray for the living and the dead is act of charity, thus we have to pray for all the souls in the Church suffering most especially the forgotten ones.

This coming month of November, let us intensely pray for the souls whenever we attend the Mass. Let's write down the names of our departed in the Book of Remembrance, and find a time to visit your departed in the cemetery this month of November. Offer your Rosary and acts of charity, especially "alms giving" for the souls in purgatory.

On the lighter side, I would like to commend the people behind the Trunk or Treat last week (October 26 at 6:30 PM to 8;30 PM) at our Lady of the Valley. It was a great success. Let's us work together for the success of our Parish Picnic (1:00 to 4:00 PM) at St. Raphael Parish grounds, next Sunday, November 2nd). Let's enjoy and have fun so that our whole body and soul will glow in Christ.

With much love,
— Fr. Jerome

BACK TO LIST