On this incredibly beautiful celebration of All Souls, we remember all those who have gone ahead of us to the "City of God." These memories can sometimes fill our hearts with sadness, with loneliness, with a sense of emptiness for the places they once occupied in our hearts and in our lives. Our friends and loved ones who have died need our prayers precisely as we trust now in their prayers for us. They remind us of the reality of the joys of life everlasting, even as we may help them enter paradise through our remembrance of them in the Eucharistic Celebration.
Psalm 92 is one of my favorite Psalms for reflecting on life everlasting. At the end are these wonderful words:
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree
they shall grow incorruptible like a Lebanon cedar
Planted in the house of the Lord,
they shall flourish in the courts of our God.
...They are living memorials to show that the Lord is upright and faithful to his promises.
(Amplified Bible)
Our gift to them is more precious than we could ever know. They depend on the prayers of the living to help them on their way to eternal joy in heaven. What better gift can you give than a Novena of Masses?
This week is our Web-A-Thon and we are raising funds so that we can provide heat and light and appropriate space in a former warehouse for our designers and illustrators and shipping sisters. All
those who make a gift to the Daughters of St. Paul by donating any amount to the Web-A-Thon Novena will have their loved ones remembered in 9 Masses offered for the deceased from November 9 to November 18. Just list the names you want remembered
on the page where you donate. We'll place them on the altar during the Novena of Masses for the Deceased.
Sr. Kathryn James, FSP