Looking back at the weekly messages of Father Paul Counce, first published in The Carpenter, our weekly Parish Bulletin
Published: November 17, 2019
Since we are now in November, traditionally the month of the Holy Souls, please remember to pray with special fervor for the dead who still are being purified of their faults. Not everyone goes straight to heaven, remember, and in fact Jesus Himself stated that indeed not many are saved (see Matthew 7:14 for one key Biblical text). We Catholics rightly understand that God’s mercy ardently desires the salvation of everyone, but that His justice demands that sin not be rewarded. Before anyone still tainted by the imperfection of sin or its consequences enters into eternal rest, he or she must be purified. Thank goodness that in His mercy the Lord grants us this opportunity after death, if our sacrifices and efforts at holiness while we are still in this world are not sufficient. Our prayers are of great assistance to the Holy Souls in Purgatory in this task of readying them for the perfection of heaven: thank you for offering them!
One thing which we (and many other Church Parishes do) is maintain a “Purgatorial List,” that is, a simple listing of those departed for whom we focus our prayers.
How to enroll the names of your family’s departed members, you ask? Simple! During the month of November, in the Mary Chapel in the northwest corner of the Cathedral, next to the Paschal Candle, a “Book of Remembrance” has been placed. All you need to do is take a few moments and inscribe their names in the book! These persons are remembered in prayer once each week at our Tuesday noontime Mass. There are no other formalities to accomplish, and no donation or other offering to the Church is required.
True, there are many other ways to remember a loved one, too. The Sanctuary Lamp near the tabernacle in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel burns perpetually before the Lord reposed in the Holy Eucharist; a memorial donation to underwrite the cost of this lamp is particularly appropriate. In all honesty, however, memorial donations of any sort to St. Joseph Cathedral Parish directly or to its trust funds are welcome: these will be properly acknowledged and insofar as is possible the requested intentions of the donor(s) for directing these funds respected. For example, one can provide altar cloths, flowers, candles, incense and other materials used in décor and at worship “in memory of” a loved one. This kind of gift – for use in prayer! – is a fitting tribute to those whose lives have inspired us, as our prayers for them continue.
Thanksgiving, of course, also falls during the last week of the month. I hope you already have plans for a wonderful Thanksgiving week. Now please don’t wait until you say grace on November 28 Thursday to begin telling God how grateful you are for His bounty: here at the Cathedral we celebrate a special “Thanksgiving Vigil Mass” at 5 pm on Wednesday, November 27. Please come! And do something special: bring your bread and wine! As part of the Mass I will offer a special blessing over the loaves and bottles which you’ll be sharing as part of your family’s Thanksgiving feast. (It also makes a nice display during that Mass, since we typically get all sorts of breads in all shapes and sizes, and quite a few bottles of vino!) I hope to see you here for it!
I thank God for you, you know!
Very Rev Paul D. Counce
