This Sunday, November 5 at our 11 a.m. Mass, our parish will remember the Faithfully Departed all those who were buried from our parish from November 2022 through October 2023 in a brief ceremony following the homily. We will read the names of the faithfully departed, toll a bell, and incense the Book of the Dead placed upon our altar.
The purpose of this liturgy is two-fold: First, to pray for the deceased. We pray for those who might be in Purgatory for the purification of their souls and their entrance into Heaven so that every sin may be forgiven and every tear wiped away. In addition, second, we pray for their intercessory prayers on our behalf, that they who are closer to God (in His Presence in Heaven) are in fact no"dead" but are more aive than they were when they walked the face of the earth.
It is good that we pray for our faithfully departed-all of them, those who's funeral Masses were celebrated and others whom we loved who lived in other towns but are remembered in our liturgical celebrations. That is why we celebrate all the faithfully departed during the month of November.
Notice the glass bowl in front of our altar filled with All Souls' Day envelopes. These envelopes provided by our parishioners and listed with the names of their family and friends on the back shall be prayed for collectively at all our Masses this November and, will also be prayed for name specific during my morning and evening prayers each day during the month.
In doing so, we help the deceased in their preparation to meet God; and, then in our prayers to them, they assist us in our practiced and lived-experience of the faith in our day-to-day activities. I hope our parish will turn out for this brief but beautiful and spiritually significant event as we remember the dead and offer our prayers both for the purification of the souls in Purgatory as well as for the spiritual guidance of those who are already in the Kingdom of God. Something good we can all do for everyone whom we remember this November