All Souls Day

 

Purgatory is a place of purification, not vitiation. 

Reflection on Today’s Readings, the Commemoration of all Souls, Thursday 1st November, 2023
Texts: Wisdom Of Solomon 3:1-9c; Psalm 23:1-3, 4, 5, 6; Romans 5:5-11; John 6:37-40 

                                             All Souls Day

Today we celebrate the souls in purgatory. We are praying for all of them today. Unlike the saints, they are yet to be perfect. Today’s first reading reminds us that their souls are in the hand of God; and have to go through torment for a while. We read, “Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them.” 

It has been given to the righteous that they will be with God. Their hope is well founded and St. Paul speaks about it in today’s second reading. The hope of the righteous is founded on the love of God for us. St. Paul says, “Hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.”  This shows that hope of the righteous is not irrational; it is based on God’s revelation of His love in Jesus Christ.  

Purgatory is a place of purification, not vitiation

God loves us and He died for us while we were still enemies. The God who has shown such a love towards us could not abandon us now that we reconcile with Him. St. Paul puts it thus: “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” On the part of the righteous, their hope is also well founded. It is certain on the part of the souls in purgatory because they no longer degenerate or retrogress in righteousness. Purgatory is a place of purification, not vitiation.  

Jesus Christ, in today’s gospel reading, assures us of salvation. The assurance of salvation is founded on the will of God. He says, “For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” He assures us of His commitment to the will of the Father to save us. The commitment to the will of the Father draws souls to Him. He says, “All that the Father gives me will come to me; ... For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me” 

Prayer 

Listen kindly to our prayers, O Lord, and, as our faith in your Son, raised from the dead, is deepened, so may our hope of resurrection for your departed servants also find new strength. Amen (Collect) 

Fr. Andrew Olowomuke