All Souls Day: Our Responsibility for those in Purgatory
Book of Wisdom 3, 1-9: "The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace." John Paul II said: In praying for the dead, the Church above all contemplates the mystery of the Resurrection of Christ, who obtains salvation and eternal life for us through his Cross.(TMA) To believe in the resurrection of the flesh is to recognize that there is a final end, an ultimate goal for all human life, which so satisfies man’s appetite that nothing else is left for him to desire…Joined to the merits of the saints, our fraternal prayer comes to the aid of those who await the beatific vision. Music: Handel's Rinaldo opera, aria: Lascia ch'io pianga, played by Bert Alink.