This country is seeped and marinated in the Catholic faith; you do not have to scratch the surface too hard to find those roots and the English devotion to Holy Souls.
The Chantrey Chapels, some still here, or roads and places which still bear the name, the pilgrimages to holy shrines, and the way-side shrines.
And later, thanks to the effects of the first world war and every conflict since, the reaction of people when Princess Diana died - the flowers & the candles, the need to pray and remember the dead is still very much a part of our culture today.
They all find their meaning in the Catholic faith, they are the symbols that point us to God - but without the church as a leaven they go awry and what we get is Elton John singing Candle in the wind.
Our duty is also to pray for the souls in purgatory. Purgatory is much misunderstood, but God in all his goodness wants us to be whole and holy, proved by and worthy of the promises of Christ. Yes, we sin; yes, we let our selves and our loved ones down; purgatory helps us to be ready: to be in that union with God. to behold the fullness of his grace and worship him in a new way.
November is a time of life and time of the Resurrection. The colour black is not morbid but the mixing of the colours of the liturgical cycle of colours and they are mixed because our prayer, our work, our preparation in liturgy not only help us to see our goal, but they help those souls to be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
So our prayer this month for the Holy Souls will move mountains and bring people into the banquet of the lamb in heaven. This is our mission if we chose to accept it.
From Crawley Parish Newsletter
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