Delivered by Andrew Jost, Eveline, Dwi Setyo, and Nirmala Niora from the Parish of Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. 2 Maccabees 12: 43-46; Rs psalm 143: 1-2.5-6.7ab.8ab.10; 1 Corinthians 15: 20-24a.25-28; John 6: 37-40.

THE RESURRECTION OFTHE BODY AND EVERLASTING LIFE

Our meditation today,the day of All Souls, is entitled: The Resurrection of the Body and EverlastingLife. Today our Church commemorates the souls of all believers, our fellowdeparted brothers and sisters. Our activity in the Church today is to pray forthose souls. The priests are asked to celebrate the Eucharist three times.People in general can attend these Masses at the same time offer intentions ofprayer for the souls of their family members.

It is important tounderstand this commemoration and our task to pray, therefore, we need todepart from the true faith we profess. In the prayer "I Believe", we professour faith in the resurrection of the body and everlasting life, and everybeliever constantly renews this belief. The souls of our families and neighborsare helped by the prayers of the whole Church so that they will be graced withresurrection and finally enjoy eternal life in heaven.

As the statement"finally enjoying eternal life in heaven" goes, this implies animportant meaning. This means there is a process that the souls go throughbefore entering heaven. We call this process as purgatory. This is a veryspecial teaching in the Catholic Church that emphasizes the sanctification forthe souls which happens in a process of purification. They are like being burnedto become pure. The sins and their consequences that still attach to thesesouls are cleansed. They certainly suffer because of this process ofpurification.

But they cannot helpthemselves. They are all spirits and do not have all the possibilities togather and pray. Therefore they really need the support of our prayers, we whoare still in the world. The second book of Maccabees in the first reading showstwo forms of help for these souls, namely prayer and sacrifice. Our prayersincludes from the simplest and spontaneous personal prayers to the highest onethat is the Eucharistic celebration. The sacrifice can be in the form of goods,money and deeds offered in the Church.

The teaching ofpurgatory about our prayers and sacrifices, aims for the resurrection of thebody and everlasting life of those souls. This is part of the contribution ofthe Church. God's part in this regard is the event of the resurrection of Jesusand the providence of a place for each of His followers. He wills that none ofHis followers is lost. This divine act is final, so those who have died inChrist are destined into heaven. To be able to bring them there, the purgatoryis needed.

So today we carry outour duty or responsibility so that its purpose is realized, that is, the soulsare purified for their entry into heaven.

Let's pray. In the name of the Father... Father of mercy, we pray for the souls of our brothers and sisters: eternalrest grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them, and maythey rest in peace. Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit... In the name of the Father ...