All Soul’s Day
Knights of Columbus Mid-Year Meeting
Washington National Harbor
November 2nd, 2024
Pass / Fail
In my student days, grades mattered to me, probably way too much. If I earned a “B”, or God forbid, a “B-”, I was an unhappy camper. Nor was I a fan of pass/fail courses—not much challenge in it, I thought. Grades are an imperfect measure of what one actually knows and they do not measure character, integrity, wisdom, and holiness. Now, as I contemplate the day of my particular judgment, I wonder what “grade” will I receive?
Well, one thing is for sure: Thanks to the mercy of God – the grade we are given at the end of our earthly journey is not “pass/fail”. That wouldn’t be so good, would it? It is, of course, possible to fail – so no one of us should approach the Throne of Judgment casually. But we should also take great comfort the existence of purgatory – that state of being further purified even after death, that is to say, made ready for heaven, where we are to receive and reflect the infinitely pure and beautiful love of the Triune God with which all the saints are resplendent. This is the hope of which St. Paul speaks in Romans, the “hope that does not disappoint,” because even after death, “the love of God is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (5:5).
What Is Purgatory Like?
The existence of purgatory is indeed a consoling doctrine, but as one who is actually hoping to wind up there – I also have wonder what it might be like to be in a state of purgation after death. As a seminarian, I worked at Old St. Mary’s Church in downtown Washington. By a side entrance was an arresting bas relief depicting heaven, hell, and purgatory – with the celebration of Mass in the middle. Looking intently at that image, it seemed to me that the folks in purgatory weren’t faring much better than those in hell. In other words, their suffering seemed to be about the same, except that purgatory has a blessed end and hell is endless.
The more I looked at that image, the more I resolved (in the words of an old WW II song) “to straighten up and fly right.”
Later on, I read a treatise of Cardinal Ratzinger in which he describes purgatory not so much as an outer ring of hell but more as a searing experience of God’s love, not an experience of punishment so much as an experience of being purified. This is not to say that purgatory is a walk in the park, but rather to confirm that we are to be refined like gold in the furnace, as we read today in the Book of Wisdom.
That the refining process isn’t easy, we know from experience. All forms of conversion and inner purification demand of us discipline, perseverance, sacrifice, and yes, a measure of pain. If you’ve ever given up smoking, tried to lose a few pounds, or worked really hard to overcome some particular vice, then you know that being purified of sin is not easy. Not easy but beautiful and merciful. For in purgatory the dross of sin gives way to the gold of divine love.
We Can Help!
Over these past few years, we’ve learned the word “synodality” – by which is meant “walking together”, “journeying together as one.” By that is meant a kind of fraternity or solidarity that we should have as members of Christ’s Body, the Church, with one another. We come from different parts of the world and we have gifts that differ, yet we are on the same road, making the same journey, and we must make it together. As Pope Benedict taught, none of us is saved alone, in solitary splendor. We are saved as part of a people who ‘hope against hope’ (cf. Rom 4:18).
That synodal journey extends beyond death. When we think of the loved ones we have lost to death, we are naturally sad and we miss them very much – but we also can continue to walk with them on their journey after death. We can accompany them by our prayers – by praying a Rosary for them, by having Mass offered for the happy repose of their souls, and, by not presuming that they are already in heaven.
As my old boss and mentor, Cardinal Hickey, was getting older, he said to me: “If you canonize me at my funeral, I’ll haunt you!” What he meant is that he didn’t want anyone, especially his admirers, to proclaim (solemnly or otherwise) that he had gone straight to heaven. Rather, he wisely wanted those who spoke at his funeral to ask that prayers be offered for the happy repose of his soul. To this day, 20 years after his death, I light the little votive lamp the Little Sisters of the Poor gave me on the morning of his death and I offer a Mass for the happy repose of his soul. Cardinal Hickey was right, of course. Few things contribute to indifference and presumption quite so much as celebrants who declare decedents who did not practice the faith to be saints, mingled among the great multitude of the saved. It sends the signal that, at the end of the day, striving for holiness and practicing the faith don’t count for much.
Commending the Dead to God’s Mercy
So much as we do at the Memorial Mass at the Supreme Convention, let us commend our brother knights and friends of the Order, and, indeed, all our loved ones to the mercy of God, confident that he wants no one to be lost, confident that our prayers will hasten the day when they will join that great throng of the redeemed in heaven, there to see love itself face to face and to rejoice exceedingly!
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. May their souls and the souls of the faithful depart, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen!