Praying for the Dead
Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever. Usually when the month of November begins I refer everyone to the fact of “All Souls Day” and our need to pray for our dead. This pandemic, which has taken too many lives, reminds me that we need to pray for our dead, especially as we enter into the Thanksgiving Season, Advent and Christmas. It seems to me that our society has been insensitive to the many people who have lost a loved one due to COVID-19. Again and again, I hear the same story. The person grieving says something to the effect, “we didn’t take this seriously until we lost our father, mother, spouse, brother, sister.” Do we have to lose someone close to us in order to take this pandemic seriously? This pandemic is a national tragedy, a world tragedy. I am sadly convinced that many of us are not praying for our dead or those who have been affected by death. We are ignoring this tragedy for various reasons. But there is no excuse! This pandemic is real and this virus does not care about anyone. We are the ones who must care. And if you are tired of it all, or do not believe it is as bad as they say it is, or do not believe it affects me or whatever your reason, our faith says we must consider our brothers and sisters and their needs. What will it take for me to take my faith seriously? If you truly are a follower of Jesus Christ and understand your faith you must recognize the needs of your brothers and sisters. We have been reading from St. Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians these past few weeks at Mass. Read chapter 5 of that letter. Do we believe we live together with those who have died in Christ Jesus? We are to be children of the light in the midst of darkness. Who will pray for you when you die? Thank God for our Church. At least on All Souls Day even the forgotten are prayed for. Only the living can make the Eucharistic celebration occur. The dead depend upon us! One day it will be you or me that awaits someone who cares.
Holy Mary, Mother of Flint, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
You are all in my prayers and heart.
Fr. Tom
