Dear friends in Jesus Christ,
Today the Catholic Church celebrates ‘All Souls day’. Yes, we celebrate Jesus because as He promised He took our beloved departed brothers and sisters with Him in heaven. When the apostle Thomas asked Him, “My Lord… where are you going and how can we know the way?” Jesus the Master and the teacher of all said, “I am the way, the truth and the life and anyone who comes to me will never taste death”. Our departed beloveds believed in the love and kindness of God and because of their faith, they are in heaven with Christ celebrating life everlasting. Faith is the answer for everything.
There is a non-Christian story in which a mother goes to Buddha and says, “Dear Buddha, I know you have the power to raise the dead to life. You are a great Master and my only son died yesterday and please bring him back to life and give my joy back” Buddha looked at her with compassion and said to her, “woman, I do have the power to bring the dead to life and I can give life to your son but before that I want you to go into the village and find a family that never faced death and from that family bring me a bowl of sugar”. The story ends saying that the woman went into the village and never came back to Buddha meaning death happens to all and it is every day phenomena.
But for us Christians death is not an end. It is a new beginning; beginning to life everlasting. We do not die and that is why we say, a person passed away, moved on. Yes, from this life, he went to eternal life. Heaven is our home and what are we doing here, we are here to experience divine love and forgiveness. We are sent here to spread the good news to all saying that God means love, God means forgiveness.
After death, we go to heaven to celebrate life. Then you may ask about eternal punishment and purgatory. Purgatory means purification, a place where we will be purified. It is a preparation place to enter into heaven. Then what is eternal punishment, eternal punishment means without God. Where there is no God that is called eternal punishment or Hades and hell.
Today we pray for our brothers and sisters who passed away from this life to eternal life. Our prayers help them to be purified well in purgatory and go to heaven. Every prayer we do in the name of Jesus help them to go to heaven and if they are already in heaven, our prayers be used for the people who do not have anyone to pray for. And also our prayers help us to get ready to join them and thus one day we being with all saints and holy men and women praise and glorify God our father. Amen.
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