"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death is your sting?"
-1 Corinthians 15:55
Life is beautiful! We cherish both family and friends in the good and bad times. Each relationship is one of life's greatest blessings. Yet life takes its course and, in the natural order of life, death interrupts these relationships. In death we are reminded how short life really is.
Traditionally, the month of November is set aside on the Church’s calendar to focus our attention in a special way on those who have died and to pray for the repose of their souls. We are consoled and given hope through our faith—a faith that teaches us that at death, life is changed, not ended. This is the journey from life on earth to eternal life with God.
We find encouragement in those heroic men and women who have gone before us--they have run the race of life and won the prize of Heaven. These heroic people are who we call saints. Simply, a saint is someone who loved God with all their heart and pursued holiness above all else. While we look to the canonized Saints of the Church to learn how they exemplified holiness, we can look to our own family and friends who have followed the narrow road--they are saints too! Each person who is in Heaven is a saint!
And yet there are so many people, because of sin, who have missed the mark. These are the souls for whom we especially pray today. We pray God's mercy may touch them so they may be purified to enter the Kingdom of God. We also pray for ourselves, that we may be purified in this life so that God may welcome us home when we pass through death. Thank God for His infinite mercy!
To prepare us for this special month of remembrance and hope, the Friars will celebrate a novena of Masses for your intentions starting on Wednesday, October 24th and concluding on All Souls Day, Friday, November 2nd. To have the names of your loved ones included on the altar during this Novena, please submit their names to: http://prayers.companionsofstanthony.org
