Communion of Saints
The Church invites us to pray, sometimes solemnly, for our loved ones and for all the righteous who have left this world in peace with the Lord. It is the call to a strict duty.
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To save souls
We form a single Church, one family of God, we who are still on earth, those who are in the place of purification and the brothers who have now reached the joy of God in heaven. And we must help each other.
It is the comforting aspect of that reality that we express with the words "communion of saints". But this reality leads us to reflect on the "necessary condition" to become part of the family of God forever, in order to be admitted sooner or later, in heavenly eternal joy.
And the condition is this: the term of our earthly life must coincide with the state of grace of the soul; that is, that man dies in love, in the friendship of God or at least in the sincere repentance of having offended him.
And here that condition, we discover another shocking reality: it is estimated to be about 250,000 a day, the impressive multitude of those who leave this world, to enter into eternity. An almost continuous passage of souls. And to think that many are taken suddenly from death, in the middle of their activity, their projects, their journey, when they least expect it.
Now, if the state of one who lives in sin is sad, it is frightening to be in an instant before God or to be conscious of being about to present himself to his judgment.
We do not know all the ways of divine mercy to reach the heart of man in those final decisive moments, however, one thing is certain for us: if great charity is to help our deceased brothers to atone for punishment and to purify themselves, an act of the most dutiful, urgent and most necessary charity is to pray for all those who are about to present themselves to the Lord, in order to obtain them, the grace of sincere repentance, of an intuition that leads them to say "yes" to the Lord Jesus , at least at the last moment.
The memory of the dead makes us think also of all the dying, it speaks to us of the fleetingness of life. Today, therefore, we will reflect on these truths and pray for ourselves in order to put ourselves in the state of vigilance, so much recommended by Jesus, for these dying brothers, so that they may discover in the Heart of Jesus the ocean of mercy.
Mary, help of Christians, refuge of sinners, Mother of Mercy, confirm our poor prayers and intervene in favor of these our agonizing brothers and to all of us, after this exile Jesus, the blessed fruit of her womb.
From the second letter to the Corinthians of St. Paul we learn: "Brothers, we know that when this body, our dwelling on earth, is destroyed, we will receive a dwelling from God, an eternal home, not built by human hands, in the heavens ... therefore, we are always full of trust and knowing that as long as we live in the body we are in exile, far from the Lord, we walk in faith and not yet in vision We are full of trust and prefer to go into exile from the body and live with the Lord. We strive, both in and out of the body, to be pleasing to Him. All indeed, we must appear before the tribunal of Christ, each to receive the reward of completed works while in the body, both for good and for bad".
(2 Cor 5, 1-10).
From the Apocalypse of St. John the Apostle: "I, John, heard a powerful voice from heaven saying:" Write: Blessed so far the dead that die in the Lord. Yes, says the Spirit, they will rest from their labors, because their works follow them".
(Ap 14.13).
"Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it ...... Then I saw the great and small dead, standing before the throne, books were opened and another book was opened, that of life. They were judged according to what was written in those books, each according to his works".
(Ap 20,11-12).
From the Gospel of St. Luke: "At that time Jesus said to his disciples:" Be ready, with your belt on your hips and the lamps lit; be like those who wait for the master when he returns from the wedding, to open immediately, as soon as he arrives and knocks. Blessed are those servants whom the master will still awake when he returns; in truth I tell you, he will gird his garments, he will have them put at the table and will go to serve them".
(Lk 12, 35-37).
