Found Them Worthy
For if before others, indeed, they be punished, yet is their hope
full of immortality; chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because
God tried them and found them worthy of himself. As gold in the furnace, he
proved them, and as sacrificial offerings, he took them to himself. Wisdom
3:4-5
For Christ, while we were still helpless, died at the appointed time
for the ungodly. Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though
perhaps for a good person, one might even find the courage to die. But God
proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
How much more then, since we are now justified by his Blood, will we be saved
through him from the wrath. Romans 5:6-9
“And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose
anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For
this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in
him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day."
John 6:39-40
Piety
O my Jesus,
Forgive us our sins
Save us from the fires of hell
Lead #AllSouls to heaven
Especially those most in need
Of Thy mercy. Amen
Study
November is the time that we start the end. Just as the weather turns colder, the clocks “fall
back.” The crops are harvested and we
prepare for the long winter’s night.
This too is the time that the liturgical year closes on the last day of
the month with the Feast of St. Andrew capping off the final week in Ordinary
Time. As we open the month, the back-to-back Holydays give us a time to connect
the flow of the calendar to the ebb of the Nicene Credo. Recall its closing
words:
I believe in one,
holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness
of sins, and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life
of the world to come. Amen.
The hope of overcoming death is among our core beliefs. Be that someone who died just this year like
my mother (in-law) Katharine Costea or someone who died a decade ago like my
mother Ruth DeCristofaro. Or someone who
died centuries ago like the mortal brother Jesus. They all died with Christ and
will rise with him to the “cloud of witnesses.”
"Our profession of faith begins with God, for God is the First and
the Last, the beginning and the end of everything. The Credo begins with God
the Father, for the Father is the first divine person of the Most Holy Trinity;
our Creed begins with the creation of heaven and earth, for creation is the
beginning and the foundation of all God's works." (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 198).
That profession ends in the hope of our Eternal Group Reunion with the
Trinity and all the saints whose souls have gone before us.
This path to heaven also recalls one of the great works of literature,
Dante’s Divine Comedy. As we remember the
saints and sinners who have gone before us, the poem starts off darkly with the
opening words on the Gates of the “Inferno.”
'Abandon hope all ye who enter here' is the supposed inscription
at the entrance to Hell.
However, all is not dark. Just
as Romans points to hope for the helpless, Dante chose to call his poem a
comedy ("Commedia" in Italian) because it ends happily. The poem follows the pilgrim who journeys through the afterlife to salvation and a vision of God
under the guidance of the souls of the Roman poet Virgil, Dante's literary
model, and his beloved Beatrice.
Action
Whose soul and sainthood do you remember today? They are present with us now and forever.
Katharine Costea, presente!
Ruth DeCristofaro, presente!
Alex Costea, presente!
Salvatore DeCristofaro, presente!
Michael Costea, presente!
Joseph DeCristofaro, presente!
Kathleen Downes, presente!
James Robert Leavelle, presente!
…And may all the souls of the faithfully departed rest in peace. PRESENTE!
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