Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart;
and you will find rest for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.
This is Jesus' invitation to discipleship in Matthew 11:28-30.
Father Patrick M. Crino, Pastor
CHERISH THE MEMORY...Our Catholic Faith teaches us to cherish the memory of our dead. It urges us to commune in prayer, especially at Mass, with the souls of those we loved while they walked this Earth. We are continually reminded that “life is changed, not ended.”
THE GOD OF LOVE...It is our belief that at the moment of death, we will experience our ultimate encounter with the God of Love. In this encounter, we will experience God more vividly than ever before because our spirit will be free of all human constraints. For some, this will be a very painful encounter because they will see their faults magnified in contrast with the goodness of God. Many believe that the pain of this encounter constitutes the essence of the doctrine of Purgatory. To own up to one’s selfishness and meanness can be terribly painful, as we all know. To do so in the presence of Holiness Itself must constitute the ultimate purgation.
“LOVE NEVER FAILS”...It is useless to speculate on the duration of this final, cleansing encounter with our God because “time,” as we understand it on Earth, has no meaning in the realm of eternity. Hence, our Faith very sensibly teaches us to forget “time” and commune in prayer with our dead. Just as “the living” are helped over the rough spots of this early life by experiencing the love, sympathy and solidarity of their friends, so also we believe that the dead are consoled and helped as they pass through the often painful “cleansing” of their ultimate encounter with God. How sad it is when we get so hung up on the earthly concept of “time” that we allow our active love and concern to stop at the moment of earthly death.
FULL OF HOPE AND LOVE...During the month of November, we will offer Mass each day for the Holy Souls. As Christ commanded that the Mass be offered for all time so that the meaning of His death would never be forgotten, so we offer Mass for our dead in the sure and certain knowledge that, because of Christ’s death, they have eternal life. Our Catholic devotion to the Holy Souls, far from being morbid, is actually full of hope and love. It speaks to something very deep within us, where spirit communes with spirit, whether we realize it our not.
St. Thomas the Apostle places the names of those submitted to the Parish Office for remembrance at our Thirty-Day Novena of Masses on a stand-by the altar. We pray for them and ask them to pray for us. We live the doctrine of the “Communion of Saints.”
An All Souls envelope is included with the October offertory envelopes sent to all Parish envelope families. Write the names of deceased relatives and friends on the spaces provided and place the envelope in the collection basket at Mass. All Souls envelopes are also available at all church exits.
Each November, this Parish book - containing the names of everyone who has had a funeral service through St. Thomas the Apostle from the opening of “St. Sunrise” - is placed near the Church ambo together with all the individual envelopes of All Souls’ intentions for the current year. This is to help ensure that, even when a family is no longer with us (either through the last of them being buried or the last of them having left the parish), our former parishioners and loved ones are still prayed for by everyone at St. Thomas.