On 1 November we honor its Church Triumphant – all Saints in heaven. All those who lived a holy and good life according to the will of God, have attained salvation, and they are seeing God face to face. Their purpose in life has been fulfilled. The purpose of God is creating human being is achieved, that is God created all of us to know him, to love him and to be happy here on earth and to be happy in heaven in his company for all eternity. In the beginning of the early church the great martyrs, heroes of faith were venerated and their life was taken to be an example to follow. Later on when Christians were free to worship according to their conscience, the Church acknowledged other paths to sanctify. As we honor the Church triumphant we are called to bring to our mind that all of us are called to holiness. By doing God’s will in our lives walking in the steps of Jesus, we will be in the company of the saved ones, the Saints, praising God for all eternity. nd Having honoured the Church in heaven, on 2 November remember the Church suffering in purgatory. The suffering of the souls in purgatory is very severe. They suffer the pain of loss for having faced God in judgement and they realize the great loss separated from him. The tragic part of the souls who suffer in purgatory is their helplessness. They can do nothing to help themselves. They can only wait and suffer. But we on earth can help them, we can offer our prayers to save their souls. Our prayers can be the cause oof liberating a soul from the fiery prison of purgatory. If such is the case, that soul will be eternally grateful to us. Let us remember them in the eucharist, rosary and personal prayer. For the Church Triumphant for all those already in heaven, let us thank and praise God and those in the suffering Church, for the souls in purgatory – let us lift them up to heaven with our prayers and sacrifices.
Fr. Anand da Gama Pais
