Pray for the souls in Purgatory

 Deacon Kevin Gingras

Oct 26th, 2025

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111625.cfm

Malachi 3:19-20a  Psalm 98:5-6, 7-8, 9

2 Thessalonians 3:7-12    Luke 21:5-19

Today, I wanted to walk up and down the sidewalk outside the church, carrying a sandwich board that read: “Repent for the end is near!” but I thought better of that.  Today’s homily does have that fire and brimstone feel to it:

See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he,' and 'The time has come.' Do not follow them! When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified, for such things must happen first… Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place… they will seize and persecute you,

Scary stuff, right?  This teaching is what probably got the Thessalonians to think Jesus was coming back and really soon.  So soon, some of them had just stopped working to wait.  St. Paul had to set them straight in his letter.  We don’t know the time or the hour; we just know some day the time will come, and we will get to our particular judgment.  This occurs at the moment of death, where each individual is judged based on the life they led according to God’s rules.  Our death is merely an end to our life here on Earth.

Gandalf the wizard from Tolkien’s book The Return of the King said about death:

End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take.

Jesus, in today’s Gospel, gives us hope when he tells us:

Not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance, you will secure your lives.

And that is certainly good news, isn’t it! I recently started setting up for a baptism by placing the Easter candle front and center before the altar, and then the baptismal font just in front of that.  This is how our life in the church begins, by our baptism.  When our journey on earth has ended, the candle is in the same spot, and it is our casket that is in front.  The casket is sprinkled with holy water to remind us of our beginning.

Ok, back to our particular judgment that happens right at our death.  Three destinations await - Heaven for those who die fully in God’s grace, Purgatory for those who die in God’s love, but we still need some purification before we can be with God for eternity, and third is Hell for those who have died with mortal sin still on their souls and have rejected God’s love.

CCC 1030:

“All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.”

Why bring all this up now?  Because November is the month to remember all the souls in Purgatory.  We begin with All Saints’ Day (those who have died and are now in Heaven) and then have All Souls’ Day (those who have died and are in Purgatory).  The Church encourages us to pray for the dead, visit cemeteries, and attend Masses to pray for the dead.

A while back, there was a woman I knew very well who knew she was dying.  I asked her how she was doing, and she replied that she was fine.  I told her not to lie, I asked how she is really doing, and what I can do to help her.  Her response surprised me.  She said that when she dies, she wants me to make sure that people don’t saintify her - in other words, correct people who say she is in Heaven now.  She made me promise that I would tell those people to instead pray for her soul and not make that assumption.  Our prayers can help those who have gone before us attain Heaven.  In Purgatory, souls cannot pray for themselves.  When you lose a family member or somebody close to you, you now have a job to do!  That job is to pray for them, to help their souls get to Heaven from Purgatory!  Especially in November, but also in all other months.  Your prayer for a loved one today could be exactly what they need to attain entry into Heaven!

St. Gertrude’s had a great prayer for this:

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.

This week I’ll end with two saint quotes, it’s that important!

Saint Padre Pio says

"We must empty Purgatory with our prayers."

And Saint John Paul II

“Praying for the souls in purgatory is the highest act of supernatural charity”

Faith in Adversity

March 22, 4th Sunday in Lent - Year A http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/032220.cfm

Today, especially since we cannot gather together for mass in most places, please take the time to read the readings ahead of time.  Gather the family, do it together prayerfully.  Let's all keep holy the Sabbath as best we can!

If you wish you can watch a VLOG of this instead by clicking HERE!


Now onto the homily...

"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.
"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” - J.R.R Tolkien - The Fellowship of the Ring.

I’ve had this quote on my desk at work for many years.  Recently I’ve seen it crop up a lot on social media.  It’s very timely and an excellent quote to ponder now.

What will we do with this time that has been given to us?  Will we stress and argue over the minute things because of this crisis we are all facing or will we spend it with the ones we love and grow closer?  Will we compile a mass of food and paper products we couldn’t use in a normal lifetime or will we instead look for ways to assist our neighbors?

In the first reading, Samuel anointed young King David, the youngest of Jesse’s children who wasn’t even presented because Jesse assumed there was no way he would be the one chosen, he was too young.  I love this line from 1 Samuel:

“Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.”

King David faced many trials in his career as King and even failed miserably in some of those trials.  Just read 2 Samuel 11 to see one of his biggest failures!

All of us are facing adversity right now with what is going on worldwide because of the Coronavirus.  Some have this adversity added to others that they have already been dealing with. Some far more difficult than others.  We are all having one very interesting Lent indeed, that’s for sure.  All of our fasts have become so much more extreme than expected!  It’s hard but we must try to remember Matthew 6:16-18:

“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you may not appear to others to be fasting, except to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.

If you can live in such a way now, to still be filled with such joy, that's more of a proclamation of who Jesus Christ is than any homily given of who you have put your trust in!

Our psalm today says:

He guides me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side With your rod and your staff that give me courage.

I have seen this faith in our own incredible parish of Holy Family.  We have had “drive-in adoration” via a window at the rectory, live streams of adoration and benediction, the rosary as well as Stations of the Cross.  Our worship hasn’t ended, it’s just been modified for the time being until this current crisis has run its course.  Once it does run its course we will come out on the other side that much stronger!

If you are one of the baptized then you too have been anointed like King David.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

The anointing with sacred chrism, perfumed oil consecrated by the bishop, signifies the gift of the Holy Spirit to the newly baptized, who has become a Christian, that is, one "anointed" by the Holy Spirit, incorporated into Christ who is anointed priest, prophet, and king.

We have been incorporated into Christ with our anointing and baptism.  No amount of sheltering in place can take that away from us as we are all being forced to give up so much more this Lent than we ever could have imagined.  As the practice of “Social Distancing” should be growing let us please pray that our practice of “Spiritual Distancing” is shrinking.  May this be a time we all grow closer to Christ as we face this adversity together. Even if we cannot physically attend Mass or other church services, we are still grafted onto the vine that is Jesus Christ.

“Pain and suffering have come into your life, but remember pain, sorrow, suffering are but the kiss of Jesus — a sign that you have come so close to Him that He can kiss you.” St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta