All Soul's Day

11-02-2025Weekly ReflectionFr. Abraham Orapankal, Pastor

Dear OLP Family,

We are entering the month of November that reminds us so much about death and life after death. Today being All Soul’s Day, we pray for all the departed souls. Our 12 noon service is a special Memorial Mass during which those who passed away this year are remembered and prayed for. We welcome, in a special way, the families and friends grieving the loss of a dear one this year. Reading their names reminds us that they are still part of our life.

The candles lit in their memory will help us lift them up to God who has welcomed them into heaven. Offering prayers help us to thank God for the blessing of their lives.

How do we help the holy souls in purgatory? The Catechism of the Catholic Church recommends prayer for the dead in conjunction with the offering of the Eucharistic Sacrifice and also encourages "almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead" (CCC #1032). Let us not forget to pray for our dear departed ones, have Masses offered to thank God for their life in which we too shared, visit their graves, and practice in our lives the good qualities and values we admired in them.

November also invites us to reflect on the reality of death! This season of Fall offers us a pageantry for our senses with the vibrantly colored leaves; but the falling leaves remind us of the completion of the cycle of life - a living metaphor for death that will happen to all of us. Bible often calls it with a very pleasant term ‘sleep’ and even Jesus used that term regarding his friend Lazarus who actually had died. See John 11:11-14. St. Paul spoke about those who are alive and those who are asleep (referring to the dead) in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17. Yes we don’t need to be afraid of death because Jesus conquered death through his resurrection. It is a guarantee for us to think of death as a passage to the life of eternity, to join the “communion of saints” a doctrine that reminds us of rejoining with our dear departed ones who are with God.

Yesterday was the feast of All Saints. Though not a holy day of obligation this year, celebration of ALL the saints is a reminder to us of our own call to holiness. St Paul was fond of calling his parishioners “saints” as in 2 Corinthians 1:1: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God which is at Corinth with all the saints who are throughout Achaia.” Coming together and celebrating our own God-given goodness as the People of God here in our OLP community is truly a sign of who we are – saints!

Your brother in Christ.