"Life is changed not ended"

Today I attended Mass for All Souls at our Catholic cemetery. In all honesty, it's the first time I've ever gone to Mass at the cemetery. Mass is also celebrated there on Memorial Day in May.

November second is Catholic memorial day. On a brisk fall day, it was nice to see so many people at the cemetery decorating graves of loved ones. People were also walking around, looking at headstones. No doubt, many were saying prayers for those who had no one to pray for them.

I was able to visit the column on which all the names of deceased deacons of my diocese are engraved. It needs to be updated to include the names of those deacons who have passed over the last three years. Especially since this year marks the 50th anniversary of the first men ordained to serve my diocese permanently as deacons, it seemed fitting to pay my brothers respect. It's always nice to remember and think about those I know.

All Souls is beautiful, as is All Saints. Today seems a good time to be reminded that God "wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim 2:4). It is this emphasis on holiness that links today with yesterday. While we're not saved by our own efforts, salvation and the sanctification it entails is not a passive endeavor on our part. Praying for our dead to help them on their way to God is as old as the Church.

Since Reformation Day is celebrated on October thirty-first, it's a good time to mention indulgences, which can be obtained for the dead. Despite the abuse of indulgences, which served as an immediate cause of the Reformation. After the Second Vatican Council, on 1 January 1967, Pope Saint Paul VI promulgated the Apostolic Constitution Indulgentarium Doctrina. This restatement of the Church's doctrine of indulgences corrects misguided understanding and practice while reasserting their importance.

For All Souls Masses, one of the prefaces for dead is used. These are the prefaces to the Eucharistic Prayer used for funeral Masses. From Preface I For the Dead:

In him [Jesus Christ] the hope of blessed resurrection has dawned,
that those saddened by the certainty of dying
might be consoled by the promise of immortality to come.
Indeed for your faithful, Lord,
life is changed not ended

On a personal note, I am very much enjoying my respite. I like having different experiences, like attending All Souls Mass at the cemetery. It was made nicer by worshiping with so many people I know and love. It was surprising who was there. Better yet, it was gratifying.