October leaves flash gold and red, blowing over streams and roads. The cold November rain transforms the foliage into a damp carpet on sidewalks and forest floors. Our attention turns to hot soup, spiced drinks and wintertime.
The church begins November by celebrating all of the saints in heaven. The second of November brings the commemoration of All Souls. We are invited to pray for our relatives and friends who have gone before us. Many families visit cemeteries to pray at the graves of their loved ones. In Mexico, people celebrate El Dia de Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Masks, music and food turn gray cemeteries festive with color and song.
For Catholics, the death of the faithful is cause for hope, even rejoicing, amid the mourning. A prayer at the funeral Mass proclaims, “Lord, for your faithful people, life is changed, not ended.” Death is not an end, but a gateway into everlasting life.
But what that everlasting life looks like remains a mystery to us while we are here on earth. Most of us aim for heaven and hope to avoid hell, but rarely do we think about that other option: purgatory. Purgatory seems to come up more often in television shows or classic literature than in our daily discussions of the afterlife. But what do Catholics believe about purgatory? Does purgatory deserve a proper burial along with other medieval superstitions, like bloodletting and limbo? I find in this Catholic teaching a gritty, hopeful realism.
Let’s be honest: We are not all saints yet. Ask the men in my Jesuit community and they will give you plenty of examples of my grumpiness, laziness and impatience. “Was I on for dish duty last night? Oops.” I can give similar examples for them, too. I try to forgive, but I choose not to forget. We are not devils either, not entirely. We are caught somewhere in between, with flashes of charity and selfishness side by side. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “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” (No. 1030).
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Joe Laramie, S.J., is the national director of the Pope’s Prayer Network (Apostleship of Prayer). He is the author of Love Him Ever More: a 9-Day Personal Retreat with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. Information and excerpts at JoeLaramieSJ.com.
With thanks to America and Delaney Coyne, where this article originally appeared.
