Departed Souls

Today, we remember the faithful who have gone before us in the hope of rising again with Christ. A priest once told me that when you pray for a soul that has not yet gone to Heaven, Our Lord goes to the person to console them with the knowledge that someone remembered them in prayer. Every day in my own prayers I try to remember all the souls in Purgatory who have no one to pray for them. Some day, I will be where they are, God-willing, and they will reciprocate.

I especially remember my brother-in-law, Fred, who God called home at a time of great personal happiness for him and his wife. They had tried for years to have a child of their own and after giving up, were surprised to learn that Tina was pregnant. Little Maria was only three when Fred was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer, to which he succumbed in a matter of weeks. I remember driving home from his funeral at dusk, and seeing the beauty of a barn set against a backdrop of leafless trees, illuminated by the setting November sun. In the sadness of the quiet ride home on the Turnpike, that little glimpse of the beauty of God's creation, seen fleetingly through the car window, provided much solace. May Fred's soul, and all the souls of the faithful departed, rest in peace. Amen