9781644135945

The Light of the World
in Christ and with Christ. All are united one with another: the saints of heaven, the suffering
souls in purgatory, and the members of the militant Church on earth. We all form
the one body of Christ, and are called to support each other that we may all attain eternal
life. We all enjoy a living relationship as members of one body. “And if one member suffer
anything, all the members suffer with it; for if one member glory, all the members rejoice
with it” (1 Cor 12:26). Through this vital connection as members of the one body, we
are in a position to help the souls in purgatory reach perfection in Christ and attain the
happiness of eternal life. “God hath tempered the body . . . that there might be no schism
in the body; but the members might be mutually careful one for another” (1 Cor 12:24
f.). We must be solicitous for our brothers and sisters in purgatory. It is the will of God
that we help and assist them.
“Bear ye one another’s burdens” (Gal 6:2). The souls of our brethren in purgatory bear the
“burden” of the temporary punishment which is due to sins, faults, and infidelities committed
during their life, and for which they have not yet made full satisfaction. In this communion of
saints we are given the power to carry part of their burden. Because of our membership in the
communion of saints we can apply our good works to the poor souls and do for them what
they cannot do for themselves. We can offer to God satisfaction for the temporal punishment
due to sin which God may still demand of them. We lighten the burden of the poor souls as
often as we offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for them. In the Mass we possess the most
profitable and most effective means of helping our departed brethren (Council of Trent, Sess.
XXV). We bear their burden whenever we gain indulgences and apply them to their souls.
All the prayers, sacrifices, good works, mortifications, and sufferings which we undertake for
God’s sake, have a propitiatory value. With all these works we can lessen the burden of the
poor souls and ameliorate their sufferings. The more intimately we associate ourselves with
the communion of saints, the more efficient our efforts become. Is it not a sublime task to
bear the burden of the poor souls and thus console them in their suffering? How thankful
they will be to us!
Our ability to help the poor souls does not arise from our physical relationship with them,
or from our connections and circumstances, but rather from our union with Christ and His
Church. Our union in Christ, our head, is the basis of this power. It is charity that binds us to
the community of brothers and sisters in Christ. In the measure we possess this charity we shall
also be able to help our departed brethren.
“If I should have all faith so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am
nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body
to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Cor 13:2 f.). We must practice
charity in the communion of saints, in the Church, in the parish, in the religious community,
and in the family.
Prayer
Absolve, O Lord, the souls of all the faithful departed from every bond of sin. And by the help
of Thy grace may they be worthy to escape the sentence of vengeance and enjoy the beatitude
of eternal light. Amen. (Tract.)
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