Forgiving the Unforgivable Means You Will Be Forgiven

Peter approached Jesus and asked him,
"Lord, if my brother sins against me,
how often must I forgive him?
As many as seven times?"

Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. 

That is why the Kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king
who decided to settle accounts with his servants.
When he began the accounting,
a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back,
his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt.

At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said,
'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.'
Moved with compassion the master of that servant
let him go and forgave him the loan.

When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount.
He seized him and started to choke him, demanding,
'Pay back what you owe.'
Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him,
'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
But he refused.
Instead, he had him put in prison
until he paid back the debt.

Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened,
they were deeply disturbed and went to their master
and reported the whole affair.
His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant!

I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to.
Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant,
as I had pity on you?'

Then in anger, his master handed him over to the torturers
until he should pay back the whole debt.
So will my heavenly Father do to you,
unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart."

MT 18:21-35

Are you starting to get the idea that forgiving someone for wronging you is important to your salvation?  Important, heck, it is vital.  In the parable, we see that the king is a kind king and moved with pity he forgives the servants large debt and lets him go his way.  The servant for his part meets one of the other servants who owes the former some money.  The man cannot pay so he had the debtor placed in prison until he could pay.  The other employees in the household must have liked the debtor because they reported what had happened to the king and he blew his stack.  He had the servant handed over to the torturers until he could pay what he owed because the servant did not imitate the king and forgive what was owed to him.  I have to tell you if this story doesn't scare you, then you are not reading it with the right frame of mind.  

My mother was a kind-hearted soul who always looked for happiness to come from the outside in.  She worked for a doctor and part of her compensation was that she was to receive free healthcare from the doctor.  The doctor she worked for could have cared less about her obligation to treat my mother.  Long story short, through carelessness this doctor misdiagnosed a growth on my mother's shoulder and treated it with medicated salve for six months to no avail.  My mother visited another friend, another respected physician,  who immediately saw that the growth was cancer.  My mother went into the hospital and the growth was removed and the prognosis was good.  Six months down the road, a scan revealed that cancer had, in fact, spread and was now terminal.  Her only hope was lung surgery.  On the day of surgery, her four children made it to the hospital in time to give her a loving send off.  She went to surgery knowing that she was a loved person.  The surgery was successful and the surgeon told us that it had probably bought Mom another year or more of life.  In her room, she was placed on a ventilator to help her breathe and she was alert and able to communicate by writing on a pad of paper.  She was a little better on post-op day two and I since I lived a good hour from the hospital, I took day three off and did not visit her.  On day four when I arrived at the hospital, Mom had slipped back.  She was still awake but not really alert.  She made no attempt at communication. By early afternoon her blood pressure started to drop and she was on full dopamine support to raise it. At 7:11 P.M. on the fourth-day post-op, Mom passed away with her four children by her side.  

The next few days were spent doing what was needed to get mom buried.  The whole thing seemed so unreal.  At the funeral home, I noticed two women sitting alone and to the side. I went over to them and introduced myself and thanked them for coming to the wake.   My sister Sandy, told me afterward not to talk to those two as the older woman was the doctor that had failed to treat my mother properly.  I said nothing to my sister, who is much more intelligent than I am but does not have the common sense God gave to a grasshopper.  But what she said planted a seed in me.  (I am NOT blaming her for what follows.)  I thought about my mother, dead at age sixty-four because of someone with the gift of healing did not think enough of her to take the trouble to treat her as if she was a paying patient and to use her skill as a doctor to help her. 

The seed started to germinate.  In the days after the funeral, once the excitement and non-stop requirement to do "things" had ended, there settled inside of me a deep and seething hatred of this so call doctor who, through a lack of caring in effect murdered my mother.  I had never in my life felt hatred so deep for someone who had hurt me.  Had I found the doctor on the ground, on fire, I would not have wasted a cold cup of coffee to put out the fire, that is how much I descended into the world of hate and loathing. 

  At the same time as I was learning to hate, I lost interest in just about everything.  I was an avid reader at the time, but now, I read the same book over and over so I didn't have to think.  The basic things a person needed to do to keep a household running were beyond me.  I was in the grip of depression and could find no way to get out of the hole I found myself in.  All the while, in my soul, was this bubbling cauldron of hate against the one who had stolen my mother from me.  

I was in this land of hate, doom, and gloom for six months.  One day I was driving to work and I passed a Catholic Church and as was my custom, I made the sign of the cross in honor of the Blessed Sacrament that I knew was contained inside those brick walls.  God infused His Spirit in me at that moment and I suddenly knew what the cause of all my problems was.  I asked the Lord to remove the hate for this woman of medicine and He did and I forgave her and at that moment the depression left me and life became brighter and I could once again see that there was a future.

Here are the reasons you need to forgive those who have hurt you. First of all, God commands it. The parable tells us that if we are to receive forgiveness for all that we have done, then we have to forgive those who have trespassed against us as well.  Next, to carry a grudge is to carry a key to hell.  Just like going to a fortune teller or believing in horoscopes, why give the devil a key to your soul? One thing is for certain, he is not afraid to use it and once you let him in the damage he can do is worse than the proverbial blind bull in a china shop!  The most important reason is that we have been forgiven of so many of our sins against the dignity of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, can we claim that the sins committed against us were greater? 

Finally, one benefit I received when I forgave is that it became for me much harder to carry a grudge.  I forgave the killer of my mother.  What more can a human being do to me that would be a greater offense?  I try to forgive and forget and thank God that He intervened in my life in such a powerful manner. 

Purgatory exists and many are those that choose to go there.  Please pray for the poor souls.  Remember too that as they are perhaps one day you shall be.

Public Relations

Jesus said to the people in the synagogue at Nazareth:
“Amen, I say to you,
no prophet is accepted in his own native place.
Indeed, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel
in the days of Elijah
when the sky was closed for three and a half years
and a severe famine spread over the entire land.
It was to none of these that Elijah was sent,
but only to a widow in Zarephath in the land of Sidon.
Again, there were many lepers in Israel
during the time of Elisha the prophet;
yet not one of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian.”
When the people in the synagogue heard this,
they were all filled with fury.
They rose up, drove him out of the town,
and led him to the brow of the hill
on which their town had been built, 
to hurl him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them and went away.

No matter how important you are, no matter what you've done or the awards you have won, you always will be good old (insert your name) when you get back into the old neighborhood.  After all, these people knew you before you attained all of the honors that you have received.  They saw you when you were not at your best, they are familiar with the person that is inside.  Our Lord is explaining this to his audience and how the Israelites treated the prophets of old. His listeners are being reminded of things that they do not want to remember.  This is one of the things a prophet does and Jesus is the king of prophets and his neighbors are not pleased with what he says and they decide to silence Him forever by throwing Him off the top of a hill.   He just walked through their midst to safety.   

We must remember that we must conform to the word of God and not rewrite it to conform to our behavior.  That is what got the Old Testament prophets into trouble and ultimately it is what got Jesus in trouble.  When we see a wrong, we can allow it to continue without saying anything, we can keep the peace.  This is what is expected in today's world, to be politically correct.  We, as Christians, and more than that, Catholic Christians, the caretakers of all of God's truth, have to step up and let our voices be heard. 

Please remember to pray for the poor souls in Purgatory today. 

Sunday Edition - News and Commentary For The Christian Reader #1

SUNDAY EDITION

A WEEKLY EDITION OF THE BLOG FEATURING  CHRISTIAN NEWS AND OPINION 

A Page of Opinion and Commentary  #1

SUNDAY EDITION TO TACKLE CONTROVERSY AND OPINION 

My normal blog posting consists of commentary on the daily Scripture readings at the daily Mass.  Beginning today, and every Sunday, I will include a blog entry called Sunday Edition which will feature one or two news stories as reported by reliable Catholic news sources and commentaries on those stories. Readers are encouraged to use the comment facility of Blogger to share their opinions of the story.   Comments will be moderated to ensure that they are on point and the language used is "safe for work" and is courteous in nature.  So let's get started.

Euthanasia Coming To A Hospice Near You

Source of Story - Click Here

A Terminal Man Speaks - Click Here

Mercy is a wonderful word but something goes wrong with it when you add to it the word killing.  More and more a movement to offer physician-assisted suicide is taking root in the garden of God we call earth.  As you know, the Church rightfully states that we are to take care of each other from birth to natural death. Among those of us who are still reasonably healthy and not under doctor's care for the end stage of a terminal disease, we cannot know what the pains of such an existence might be like. I have watched my mother and my father take their last breaths and I could see what the terminal disease did to their psyche. I did not detect fear in either of them and in my father's case him and my stepmother became closer during those final months.  When the time came, dad was placed under the care of hospice and they kept him comfortable and without much pain until he took and expelled his final breath.  My father was never more alive than when he was with Pat as they cared for one another as they aged. They deserved every day that was possible to share life with one another.  

But what is wrong with Euthanasia.  Certainly, there comes a time when the pain gets too painful to bear any longer or the inconvenience if having to depend on others seems to rob a person of dignity, shouldn't the alternative of assisted suicide be offered to such a person?  Don't we all own our lives and our bodies and have the final say as to our fate?  Alas, our fate is a common one, death comes to us all and we fear it so because we do not know what comes after it. Well, we do not own our bodies and we do not have the right to injure ourselves in any way that would bring about our death sooner than God intended.  We cannot create a life as unique as the person that lies on the deathbed so we cannot be the ones to decide if their life is to continue or not. Quality of life is often a reason why Euthanasia is suggested.  How can we judge the quality of one's life when the vast majority of who we are and what we are are in the mind and the soul, places hidden from our view?

There was a very successful program that provided a merciful death to those that were suffering.  Now, they may not have been actually on their deathbed but they were seen to be using us resources that could be better used by the healthy.  The Nazi T4 program gassed the mentally ill, mentally challenged, the lame, the disfigured and anyone else that could be served under the generous guidelines of the Eugenics Department of the Reich. 

But the ardent supporters of euthanasia are not saying that we should imitate this program, that it is voluntary and up to the one who knows best, the patient.  Perhaps at the outset, the matter is between doctor and patient, it is evil either way.  But I don't believe that it will stay as a private matter.  Already there are government reports that state that the last months of life are the most expensive as far as the end of life care goes.  Once the government (any government, not just ours) starts analyzing costs, it will have some number driven bureaucrat point out that if a person with such and such a disease is given a merciful death x amount of dollars would be spent each year.  Voluntary euthanasia is a slippery slope and at the bottom of the slope is mandated end of life measures for all.  My father was proud that he served in World War II and with his colleagues defeated the forces of evil that would have brought such darkness into the world.  Would they have fought so bravely if they knew we were on the road to embracing our very own T4 program?  God is the master of life and death and we need to leave these decisions to Him and we need to care for each other as if we were caring for Christ Himself.  

--------------------------READERS PLEASE NOTE---------------------

Sunday Edition is written to elicit thoughtful contemplation of issues that are important to Christian people, especially Catholic Christians. Comments, pro, and con are invited.  Comments are moderated and comments that violate politeness will be not be shown.  

©2018 Michael J. Spoula and Galloping Goose Studios. Permission is granted to distribute this work under the Creative Commons clause provided a link back to this page is included. 

How To Cleanse A Temple

Since the Passover of the Jews was near,

Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

He found in the temple area those who sold oxen, sheep, and doves, 

as well as the money changers seated there.

He made a whip out of cords

and drove them all out of the temple area, with the sheep and oxen, 

and spilled the coins of the money changers

and overturned their tables, 

and to those who sold doves he said,

"Take these out of here, 

and stop making my Father's house a marketplace."

His disciples recalled the words of Scripture, 

Zeal for your house will consume me.

Oh boy! Now he's gone and done it.  Before he was just a would-be messiah but now He has made himself an economic nuisance to the high priest and his family who either owned the concessions or was being paid a "fee" from the sellers and money changers for the privilege of serving the temple attending public.  After all, you had to have animals to sacrifice and the animals had to be free of any defect to be worthy to be sacrificed on Yahweh's altar and all such animals purchased on temple grounds were guaranteed to be acceptable.  Also, if you wanted to donate to the temple, you had to donate in temple shekels and not the money of the world that most likely had been contaminated along the way.  Certainly, one could not expect the money to be changed for free, there had to be a fee, it was only right, wasn't it?  So what right did this ridiculous man have to drive man and animal out of the temple?  

Actually, the business of talent acquisition for the bloody sacrifices of the altar and for the donation of the proper coinage was supposed to take place in the court of the Gentiles which was the outer court of the temple quite separate from the inner court where the business of the worship of God began in earnest.  The temple concessions had invaded this inner court and in effect desecrated sacred ground.  Jesus, as a good Jew probably had a lot of support for what he did from the ordinary people but he really upset the priestly family of Annas and Caiaphas who now more than ever wanted to be rid of this Jesus fellow. 

But how does this Jesus square with the meek and humble Jesus we usually see Him as?  We know Jesus as asking the children to come near so he could bless them.  He was kind and forgiving to the lady caught in adultery.  He was generous to the family who ran out of wine in Cana.  Here we see a different side of Jesus.  God is all loving and all merciful but He is also a just God who brooks no nonsense when it comes to widows and orphans and who did rain down destruction on the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah.  To sell animals inside the very house of God would rile Jesus up because He knew how glorious and holy the Father is.  He knew that this sale inside the temple was an insult and he would stand for no insult to the Father.   

This incident represents, I believe, a turning point in history.  Prior to this the high priest and his cronies would have been satisfied to have Jesus ridiculed with scorn and ridden out of town on a rail but now He had gone too far and He could not be allowed to make the high priest look weak in the eyes of the people.  The stage was being set for the Temple crowd to have their revenge.  Funny thing is, they thought it was their idea! 

Here is an idea for you on how to pray for the poor souls in a unique way.  Open your newspaper to the obituary section and pick a name at random and pray for that person by name.   Remember too to pray for your beloved dead.  Don't let your love for them end at the grave.  

The Wisdom of the Prodigal Son

When he had freely spent everything,
a severe famine struck that country,
and he found himself in dire need.
So he hired himself out to one of the local citizens
who sent him to his farm to tend the swine.
And he longed to eat his fill of the pods on which the swine fed,
but nobody gave him any.
Coming to his senses he thought,
'How many of my father's hired workers
have more than enough food to eat,
but here am I, dying from hunger.
I shall get up and go to my father and I shall say to him,
"Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers."'

Our unlikely hero in this story, the Prodigal Son, displays a bit of wisdom that we never give him credit for. He knows that without a doubt not only he would be allowed back, he also knew without a doubt that he would be fed.  He had this faith based on his identity.  He was, after all, still a son to his father.  He knew that being the son would trump his bad behavior and he would receive a welcome.  Now, he was not sure what type of welcome he would receive, because after all, he did squander half of the wealth that his father had spent his life accumulating so while he knew he would be accepted, he was not sure how loving his reception would be.  He had that base covered as well.  He would play the humility card and ask to be treated not as a son but as a hired worker.  This plea was designed to melt the heart of a cross but still loving father.  We know the end of the story.  The boy's plan works and not only does he get to eat, he is accepted back as his father's son again.

This story is about me and you. All of us are in some ways like the prodigal son.  We go off on our own and walking under our own power we follow our eyes, ears, nose, and our sense of touch into places and situations that are not good for us.  We experience there what we wanted to experience and then comes the downside of the escapade, we are broken, we are humble, and we have squandered our inheritance for something that vanishes like smoke.  Some of us never recover. Some of us stay in the strange alien land far too long because we are afraid of the reception we might get if we returned home again.  We must set aside these concerns and remember that the Father is waiting and watching and will welcome us back the moment we acknowledge where we have been and what we have done.  Forgiveness is as close as the door of the confessional room in your church.  

You say that you confess your sins directly to Jesus and get forgiveness that way.  I am sure that forgiveness is there for you but the way Jesus wants us to do it is through the Church and through the priest who sits in Persona Christi.  It is not the priest that forgives sins, it is Christ working through the priest who distributes pardon and clemency no matter what the sin, no matter how serious the offense.  

What is it you fear about this wonderful sacrament of reconciliation?  Do you fear it because it has been so very long since you have approached the font of mercy that flows from the Sacred Heart of Jesus?  God does not live in time.  God lives in love which is ageless.  Approach without fear.  Are you afraid what your priest will think of you if you confess your sins to him?  Your priest, even if he is your twin brother, will not remember nor hold anything you say in the confessional against you.  God will not be surprised by what you confess, He knows everything that you have ever done and His hope is that you realize what you have done, accept His pardon and His graces and to start over again as one in His adopted family.   You say that you confess the same sin over and over again and you find this embarrassing?  Well, what do you want, forgiveness or a new sin to commit? Confessing repeat patterns of sin will obtain for you not condemnation but more graces to fight off the temptation the next time it occurs. 

Please, in this Lenten season, take stock of yourself.  Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the sins you have locked away and forgotten about and approach the sacrament with joy because you were once lost and now you are found. 

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And now a word from our sponsor, The Poor Souls in Purgatory.

Purgatory is a real place and many are those that inhabit it.  They need our prayers and our sacrifices.  Please pray for the Poor Souls as part of your Lenten journey.  It will mean so much to them. 

POPE FRANCIS ON PRAYING FOR THE SOULS IN PURGATORY

Pope Francis teaches that:

Even now we experience a communion between the Church on earth and the Church in heaven through our union with those who have died. The souls in heaven assist us with their prayers, while we assist the souls in purgatory through our good works, prayer, and participation in the Eucharist. As members of the Church then, the distinction is not between who has died and who is living, but rather who is in Christ and who is not …

There is a deep and indissoluble bond between those who are still pilgrims in this world — us — and those who have crossed the threshold of death and entered eternity. All baptized persons here on earth, the souls in Purgatory and all the blessed who are already in Paradise make one great Family. This communion between earth and heaven is realized especially in intercessory prayer.

TEACHINGS OF POPE ST. JOHN PAUL II ON THE SOULS IN PURGATORY

Pope St. John Paul II also encouraged prayers for the dead:

Joined to the merits of the saints, our fraternal prayer comes to the aid of those who await the beatific vision. Intercession for the dead, just as the life of those living according to the divine commandments, obtains the merits that serve the full attainment of salvation. It is an expression of the fraternal charity of the one family of God, by which “we are faithful to the Church’s deepest vocation” (Lumen Gentium, n. 51): “to save souls who will love God eternally” (Thérèse of Lisieux, Prayers, 6; cf. Manuscript A 77rº). For the souls in purgatory, waiting for eternal happiness and for meeting the Beloved is a source of suffering, because of the punishment due to sin which separates them from God. But there is also the certitude that once the time of purification is over, the soul will go to meet the One it desires (cf. Ps 42; 62) …

I encourage Catholics to pray fervently for the dead, for their family members and for all our brothers and sisters who have died, that they may obtain the remission of the punishments due to their sins and may hear the Lord’s call: “Come, O my dear soul, to eternal repose in the arms of my goodness, which has prepared eternal delights for you” (Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, 17, 4)”

TEN WAYS TO PRAY FOR THE HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY

It is appropriate to commemorate All Souls Day by praying for those who have gone before us in faith. Here are ten ways we can pray for our deceased friends and relatives, and for all our brothers and sisters who have died in Christ.

1. Pray the Novena to the Holy Souls by St. Alphonsus Liguori.
    
2. Offer up your Holy Communions for the souls in purgatory.
    
3. Have Masses said for your departed loved ones, especially on the anniversary of his or her death.
    
4. Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet for the intention of the Holy Souls.
    
5. Eucharistic Adoration: visit the Blessed Sacrament to make acts of reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on behalf of those in purgatory.
    
6. Sacrifices: practice small acts of self-denial throughout your day and offer these penances up for the poor souls.
    
7. Give alms: The giving of material assistance to the poor has always been considered a penance that can be offered for the Holy Souls. “For almsgiving saves from death, and purges all sin” (Tobit 12:9).
    
8. Ask for the intercession of saints who were known to be great friends of the Holy Souls during their lifetime to join you in prayer for the faithful departed: St. Nicholas of Tolentino, St. Gertrude the Great, St. Catherine of Genoa, St. Padre Pio, St. Philip Neri, St. John Macías, St. Faustina Kowalska, St. Joseph, Our Lady, and others.
    
9. When passing by a cemetery: Pray the short Eternal Rest prayer: “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let the perpetual light shine upon them. And may the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.”
    
10. Pray to earn indulgences for the holy souls:  On all the days from November 1 to November 8, a plenary indulgence, applicable only to the Poor Souls, is granted to those who visit a cemetery and pray, even if only mentally, for the departed (standard requirements for indulgences apply*). Partial indulgences are granted to those who recite Lauds or Vespers of the Office of the Dead, and to those who recite the prayer, “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace”.

Rejected Stone

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: 
"Hear another parable.
There was a landowner who planted a vineyard,
put a hedge around it,
dug a wine press in it, and built a tower.
Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.
When vintage time drew near,
he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce.
But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat,
another they killed, and a third they stoned.
Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones,
but they treated them in the same way.
Finally, he sent his son to them,
thinking, 'They will respect my son.'
But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another,
'This is the heir.
Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.'
They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?"
They answered him,
"He will put those wretched men to a wretched death
and lease his vineyard to other tenants
who will give him the produce at the proper times."
Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures:

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?

Therefore, I say to you,
the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people that will produce its fruit."
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables,
they knew that he was speaking about them.
And although they were attempting to arrest him,
they feared the crowds, for they regarded him as a prophet.

Fear was not an emotion that ruled the life of Jesus.  Had this been so He would not have been able to talk to the powerful men, the movers, and the shakers, as He had done here.  He recounted the history of the Jews and how they treated the prophets that Yahweh sent them.  

If there was one thing that the management of the temple did not need it was a Messiah. They were occupied by Rome and the Romans did not like the idea of a Messiah coming to free Israel from the snare of Roman rule.  The leadership was intent on remaining leaders and the leadership that they provided for the people was geared to keeping the Romans at bay and their world subject to as little change as possible. 

Jesus, on the other hand, was not here to preserve the status quo.  He was here to sow the seeds of God's kingdom and bring about a revolution in how mankind and God carried on business.  The Pharisees and Sadducees were not in the market for a revolution and they certainly did not think that a carpenters son from Galilee would be the one who would be bringing any change anyway.  

Jesus forecast the end of the story because he told them that the landowner sent his only son and he too was rejected by the leaders. The leadership took umbrage at their being the fall guys in this parable and looked for some way to arrest Him but Jesus was too popular with the crowd and they feared a riot if they were to arrest him in public so they would have to bide their time and wait for a man that could operate in the darkness and deliver the goods to them privately and with as little publicity as possible.  Enter a man named Judas from Iscariot.  To be continued...

Remember man thou art dust to dust thou shalt return.  Please remember our beloved dead, the Poor Souls in Purgatory in your prayers today.  

Lazarus and The RIch Man

Jesus said to the Pharisees:
"There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen
and dined sumptuously each day.
And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,
who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps
that fell from the rich man's table.
Dogs even used to come and lick his sores.
When the poor man died,
he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham.
The rich man also died and was buried,
and from the netherworld, where he was in torment,
he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off
and Lazarus at his side.
And he cried out, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me.
Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue,
for I am suffering torment in these flames.'
Abraham replied, 'My child,
remember that you received what was good during your lifetime
while Lazarus likewise received what was bad;
but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.
Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established
to prevent anyone from crossing
who might wish to go from our side to yours
or from your side to ours.'
He said, 'Then I beg you, father, send him
to my father's house,
for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them,
lest they too come to this place of torment.'
But Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the prophets.
Let them listen to them.'
He said, 'Oh no, father Abraham,
but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.'
Then Abraham said,
'If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets,
neither will they be persuaded
if someone should rise from the dead.'"

LK 16:19-31

The name Lazarus means, "God is my help."  In today's reading, he is presented as a most pitiful creature.  He is poor and sick and humble enough that he would eat the scraps from the rich man's table.   We also have a rich man, who is not named so we can consider his identity to be "God is not my help."  He is the perfect contrast to Lazarus.  He is rich, and proud and well fed and very happy.  As it happens to all of us, the time came for each to die.  Lazarus, who suffered greatly during his lifetime is brought to Paradise where he sits and drinks coffee with Abraham.  The rich man, the man who trusted in himself and his riches and squandered them all for the good of his self, dies and we are told he is buried, no being carried to Abraham for him. 

We see now that the tables have been turned. Lazarus is enjoying the never-ending pleasures of heaven, after all, it was a bottomless coffee cup!  We also hear how the unnamed rich man is in torment because he did not count God among his friends.  He shouts out to Lazarus asking that he come and moisten his lips with some cool water.  Abraham responds to the rich man telling him that during his life he took no pity on the poor and he enjoyed all of the good things of earth and he was receiving the reward that he earned for what he had not done.  The man seems to accept his fate and asks that his brothers be warned about this place that was his for eternity, a place of pain and torment.  Abraham tells him that his brothers have the law and the prophets and should believe because of them.  The man says that they would believe if someone from the dead cam to tell them.   Abraham shakes his head and tells him, "If they won't listen to the Law and the Prophets, then they will not believe even if someone were to raise from the dead."

This Lenten season we are called to do more than we do at other times of the year.  We are called to get in touch with our spiritual side and to do things that nourish our souls more than our bodies.  We know the end of this story.  We know that Jesus is murdered upon the cross and He does raise from the dead.  Look around you, see what little things you can do for those you come into contact with every day.  Little anonymous acts of giving and kindness will help others have a good day and to perhaps pay forward the good fortune that you bestowed on them.  It will certainly make them think and that could be the first step to a person walking the road of conversion.  One of the major lessons in our reading for today is to not keep everything for yourself but to look around and to do good where you can.  If not during Lent, then when?



Purgatory is a real place and many are those that inhabit it.  They need our prayers and our sacrifices.  Please pray for the Poor Souls as part of your Lenten journey.  It will mean so much to them. 

Pope Francis on praying for the souls in purgatory

Pope Francis teaches that:

Even now we experience a communion between the Church on earth and the Church in heaven through our union with those who have died. The souls in heaven assist us with their prayers, while we assist the souls in purgatory through our good works, prayer and participation in the Eucharist. As members of the Church then, the distinction is not between who has died and who is living, but rather who is in Christ and who is not …

There is a deep and indissoluble bond between those who are still pilgrims in this world — us — and those who have crossed the threshold of death and entered eternity. All baptized persons here on earth, the souls in Purgatory and all the blessed who are already in Paradise make one great Family. This communion between earth and heaven is realized especially in intercessory prayer.

Teachings of Pope St. John Paul II on the souls in purgatory

Pope St. John Paul II also encouraged prayers for the dead:

Joined to the merits of the saints, our fraternal prayer comes to the aid of those who await the beatific vision. Intercession for the dead, just as the life of those living according to the divine commandments, obtains the merits that serve the full attainment of salvation. It is an expression of the fraternal charity of the one family of God, by which “we are faithful to the Church’s deepest vocation” (Lumen gentium, n. 51): “to save souls who will love God eternally” (Thérèse of Lisieux, Prayers, 6; cf. Manuscript A 77rº). For the souls in purgatory, waiting for eternal happiness and for meeting the Beloved is a source of suffering, because of the punishment due to sin which separates them from God. But there is also the certitude that once the time of purification is over, the soul will go to meet the One it desires (cf. Ps 42; 62) …

I encourage Catholics to pray fervently for the dead, for their family members and for all our brothers and sisters who have died, that they may obtain the remission of the punishments due to their sins and may hear the Lord’s call: “Come, O my dear soul, to eternal repose in the arms of my goodness, which has prepared eternal delights for you” (Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, 17, 4)”

Ten Ways to Pray for the Holy Souls in Purgatory

It is appropriate to commemorate All Souls Day by praying for those who have gone before us in faith. Here are ten ways we can pray for our deceased friends and relatives, and for all our brothers and sisters who have died in Christ.

1. Pray the Novena to the Holy Souls by St. Alphonsus Liguori.
    
2. Offer up your Holy Communions for the souls in purgatory.
    
3. Have Masses said for your departed loved ones, especially on the anniversary of his or her death.
    
4. Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet for the intention of the Holy Souls.
    
5. Eucharistic Adoration: visit the Blessed Sacrament to make acts of reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus on behalf of those in purgatory.
    
6. Sacrifices: practice small acts of self-denial throughout your day and offer these penances up for the poor souls.
    
7. Give alms: The giving of material assistance to the poor has always been considered a penance that can be offered for the Holy Souls. “For almsgiving saves from death, and purges all sin” (Tobit 12:9).
    
8. Ask for the intercession of saints who were known to be great friends of the Holy Souls during their lifetime to join you in prayer for the faithful departed: St. Nicholas of Tolentino, St. Gertrude the Great, St. Catherine of Genoa, St. Padre Pio, St. Philip Neri, St. John Macías, St. Faustina Kowalska, St. Joseph, Our Lady, and others.
    
9. When passing by a cemetery: Pray the short Eternal Rest prayer: “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let the perpetual light shine upon them. And may the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.”
    
10. Pray to earn indulgences for the holy souls:  On all the days from November 1 to November 8, a plenary indulgence, applicable only to the Poor Souls, is granted to those who visit a cemetery and pray, even if only mentally, for the departed (standard requirements for indulgences apply*). Partial indulgences are granted to those who recite Lauds or Vespers of the Office of the Dead, and to those who recite the prayer, “Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace”.