THE SOULS IN PURGATORY DO NEED OUR PRAYERS!
God has revealed to us that when a person dies, he or she meets with God and, at that time, there is a review of his or her life. This review is called the particular judgment. At the conclusion of this judgment, the person assigns himself or herself to heaven, purgatory or hell. The person assigns himself or herself according to how they lived their lives and whether they repented of their sins and made satisfaction for the sins they committed during their lives. Persons who go to heaven or hell will be there forever.
Persons who assign themselves to purgatory will be there as long as it is necessary to be cleansed of their sins and to make satisfaction for the punishment their sins deserved. While a person is on earth, they may receive pardon of their sins through the sacrament of penance (confession) or through the Eucharist (the Mass) for lesser or venial sins. While the person is on earth, he or she may make satisfaction for his or her sins by doing penance or by receiving an indulgence from Jesus through the Church.
For the souls in purgatory, the time to prepare for heaven was before death. Once a person has died and their soul is in purgatory, they can no longer receive forgiveness and satisfaction for sins simply on their own. After death, they need the help of others. Here lies the purpose of the month of all souls. During this month, we pray for all the souls in purgatory. We offer prayers and sacrifices for them. The prayers and sacrifices win graces for them, which help them toward the forgiveness of their sins and satisfaction for the punishment that they owe for their sins. Since we do not know who of the dead is in heaven (unless they have been beatified), we pray for all those who have died. The greatest prayer that we can offer for them is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I hope that many of you will attend Mass this month and offer your Masses for family members, friends and for all of the souls in Purgatory. They absolutely need our help. They can no longer reach heaven on their own efforts.
TITHING WITNESSES It has been about 18 months since we had the teaching on tithing and we are due for a brief review. It would help if we had a couple of people to give witness testimonies at the Masses. If you can help by giving a three minute witness on your experience and the blessings of tithing, please give me a call at the Parish Office at 908-879-5371. I thank you in advance.
REVISITING THE BALTIMORE CATECHISM A TOOL FOR FAMILY CATECHESIS Bishop Serratelli has asked the pastors to have the children in the parishes learn by memory some parts of the Baltimore Catechism. Bishop has made available the questions and answers from Volume I of the catechism on the diocesan website. In times past, all Catholics knew these questions and answers by heart. If you wish to bolster your own knowledge of the basics of the Catholic faith, I recommend that you visit the website (patersondiocese.org) and try to commit the questions and answers to memory. A thought . . . you can create some great family games based on the Baltimore Catechism Q & A.
Father Nick