Thursday of the 30th week in ordinary time year A
Wisdom 3: 1-9c Rom. 5: 5-11 Mathew 5: 1-12a
Theme: Let us pray for the departed
Today the church commemorates the faithful departed. We pray today in a special way for all the departed souls, an opportunity for us to support them with our prayers. Where they are now, they cannot help themselves anymore, it is only our prayers that can help them now to be counted among the chosen people of God. Yesterday we celebrated the solemnity of all saints and today we are celebrating all souls. We all have one or more persons close and dear to us who have died, let us present their souls to God today in faith, trusting in his love and mercy. It is our belief that our prayers today will set some souls free from purgatory. Where they are right now, we may also find ourselves tomorrow. Let us trust in God and do all within our power to support them with our prayers.
Today’s celebration presents us the opportunity to reflect about the kind of life that we lead as children of God. It presents to us the reality of life and death, as children of God. We must all surely die one day, and at a time we do not know. That is why we must be mindful of the kind of life we lead. Today we are praying for all the departed souls in purgatory, an opportunity for us to make effort not to find ourselves in a similar situation that they have found themselves. We are all encouraged today to live our lives like people who are conscious of the fact that they will give account of the kind of life we lead at a particular point in time in our lives. Pray for them today and they will never forget all those who prayed for their redemption from purgatory. Remember, a day will come when you also need the prayers of other people.
Sometimes we tend to think that it is not possible to live according to the beatitudes in the gospel reading of today, but some of the people we celebrate today, lived it in their daily lives. Let us all be encouraged today to make honest and sincere effort to live a good life that is pleasing to God. One thing we must always use to encourage ourselves is the fact that, if some people have done it in the past and also in our own time, it simply means that you can also do it. May God grant us the grace to live a life that will prepare us for eternal happiness, in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Amen. Peace be with you.