November 2, 2008
Feasts of All Souls
In the '70', there was a song that became popular not only because of its innovative and excellent rock beat but because of its length (seven minutes!). The song was sung by the group Led Zeppelin and was entitled "Stairway To Heaven". The opening line in a summarizes the whole song, "There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold; And she's buying a stairway to heaven." This, in a way, tells the essence of the song about the quest of a lady to find heaven.
Today, All Soul's Day is being celebrated by the Church for all the faithful departed who are still undergoing whole cleansing (purgation) so that they will be worthy of the Kingdom. They are, in a manner of speaking, finding their "stairway to heaven". Yesterday, All Saints Day, was a day dedicated to all those who are already in God's Kingdom; those who had found their stairway to heaven.
Our faith recognizes that we are grouped depending on the status of our relationship to the Kingdom; Triumphant or the saints who are already in the Kingdom, Militant or those who are still here on earth journeying towards the Kingdom, and Patient or Suffering or those who already died and are undergoing purgation. In our Creed, we profess that we are in Communion. We continue to do good works and pray for each other. We thank and praise God for crowning our love ones who had lived faithfully on this earth by making them saints and enter the Kingdom. At the same time, we ask for their intercession because they had been a witness to the love of Jesus. For us who are still living our lives here on earth, we continue to struggle in living up to the challenges of our faith according to the Will of God. We are asked to pray and do good to our neighbors. God's mercy must be shared to everyone. But it is not limited to our neighbors here. It is much more important to be shared to those in "purgatory" who had already been held helpless by their death. If we are asked to do charity and prayers for our neighbors here who are still capable of availing themselves of the God's justice and mercy, how much more are those who are only relying on the intercession of others. To pray and offer works of mercy for the departed faithful is the most charitable act we, here on earth, can do!
Maybe we wonder why the "purgatory?" But what is the Purgatory? By the word itself, it means cleansing. We believe that a person who had the smallest sin is not worthy of the Kingdom. The soul of that person has to be cleansed. Note that it is not because God does not want the soul, but because the soul is not worthy of the state it will enter into. The provision of the Purgatory is in fact God's way of assuring the soul of entrance into the Kingdom. We have to remember that even the souls in Purgatory are heirs of the Kingdom. It had been assured to every soul by virtue of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Savior, and that their names are written in heaven. There is no way but up (heaven) for the souls. However, they can not but undergo cleansing which is a patient suffering of punishment incurred because of sin. Purgatory also makes us realize how God hated sin. How this act, no matter how small can impede our journey towards eternal life. Jesus, during His ministry, had stressed it so many times that we were really made aware of the consequences of our opposing actions. God hopes that we will prevail. But God knows, many will fail; therefore, the Purgatory!
We are really graced! The challenge rests more on us here on earth who can still avoid Purgatory and go straight to heaven. In that song "Stairway To Heaven", the lady was told, "Yes, there are two paths you can go by; But in the long run, there is still time to change the road you're on." We can choose to trek the road to the Kingdom, if we want. Alone, we can not do it. God will lead us to it if we want. In the same song, it says to the lady,"Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow? And did you know your stairway lies on whispering wind?" For us Christians, the whispering wind is the Spirit of God which blows us to the Kingdom. So, why pass by Purgatory when we can go straight to heaven?
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