HOLY SOULS NOT YET IN HEAVEN

November is the month when we pray for the souls of those “who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith”. In other words, we pray for those who have died in a state of grace, fortified by the Rites of holy Church.

Yet even so, we do not presume that such souls enter directly into heavenly glory. Without being in any way pessimistic about our prospects of salvation, we should all be entirely realistic. Cardinal Newman’s first printed sermon is entitled “Holiness necessary for future Blessedness”, in which he states that “holiness, or inward separation from the world, is necessary to our admission into heaven, because heaven is not heaven, is not a place of happiness except to the holy.” Holiness is not achieved simply by being reconciled with God at the end of our life.

As Newman explains: “in the parable of the wedding garment...inward sanctification is made a condition distinct from our acceptance of the proffer of mercy, and not negligently to be passed over in our thoughts as if a necessary consequence of it; ... we must meet the bridegroom with the oil of holiness, and ...it takes time to procure it.”

So we pray for the souls of those who, though saved, still need to grow in holiness before being admitted to God’s presence. This growth in holiness is the purpose and effect of Purgatory.                          ~ Fr. Paul Dobson