Why We Pray for the Souls of the Faithful Departed

Fr. Dwight Campbell

11/02/2025

Homily All Souls Yr C: Why We Pray for the Souls of the Faithful Departed

Fr. Dwight P. Campbell, S.T.D., J.D.

“This is the will of [the Father] who sent me, . . . that everyone who believes in [me], the Son, I shall raise him on the Last Day.”

These are the words of Jesus from today’s Gospel from St. John.

St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, our second reading, says the same: that “we who were baptized into Christ . . . shall be united with him in the resurrection.”

What do these words of Jesus and St. Paul teach us? That the goal of the Christian life is to be raised up, in bodies glorified, on the Last Day, when Jesus comes in glory to judge the living and the dead.

This comes through the power of Jesus Christ; for as St. Paul tells us, Jesus conquered death by rising from the dead; and the share in divine life we receive at baptism allows us to have victory over death – by rising from the dead on the Last Day.

And right now, the souls that are in heaven are awaiting that Last Day when the resurrection of the dead takes place; for then they will receive their bodies back in a glorified state – a body like that of Jesus risen from the dead.

We too, await that glorious Last Day, in hope that we will be numbered among those Saints in the heavenly kingdom.

This Saturday we celebrated the Feast of All Saints – i.e., all those holy souls who are in Heaven:  not only those who are canonized Saints by the Church, but all those who have died and are now enjoying heavenly bliss.

This Sunday we celebrate the Commemoration of the Souls of All the Faithful Departed – i.e., all those souls who have died in a state of grace, who have died “in the Lord” (Rev. 14:13); BUT who are still atoning for sins committed in this life that were never atoned for; or who died with a disordered attachment to self – e.g., persons who were selfish, or self-willed, or vain.

Such sins and imperfections must be purged before one can enter the presence of the All-Pure and All-Holy God; for as St. John tells us in the Book of Revelation, speaking of heaven, “Nothing unclean or impure may ever enter into it” (cf. Rev. 21:27).

This purification needed in order to enter the presence of God in heaven is called Purgatory, where sins and imperfections are purged by fire, just as gold is purified by fire in a furnace.

The catechism of the Catholic Church discusses this in a section titled, “the final purification, or purgatory,” and it says” 

“All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven (CCC 1030). 

“The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, . . .” (1031), so that after their purification they may enter heaven and see God (cf. CCC 1032).

And here is a beautiful thing, which is one of the reasons for celebrating this commemoration of the “poor souls”, as they are called: We can offer prayers and good works to God for the souls in purgatory to lessen the amount of punishment they must undergo. 

This is part of the Church’s teaching on the Communion of the Saints – exchange of spiritual goods that takes place within all the members of Christ’s mystical body, the Church: we can pray to the Saints in heaven, asking them to pray and intercede for us; we can pray for one another here on earth; and finally, we can pray and offer good works for the souls in purgatory, who cannot help themselves..

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: 

“From the beginning the church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice [of the Mass], so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commands almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead” (CCC 1032).

What is an “indulgence”? Our Catechism teaches: “An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven [e.g., if the priest in confession absolves your sins]” (CCC 1471).

The penance a priest gives in confession may not atone fully for the sins someone confesses. The scales of justice must be balanced perfectly; and if not done in this life, it must be done in the next: in Purgatory

The faithful Christian in a state of grace can obtain indulgences through the action of the Church, because Jesus gave the power of binding and loosing to Peter and the Apostles (Mt. 16:13 ff; & Mt. 18:18); therefore the Church has the power to  dispenses the treasury of the satisfactions of Jesus and the faithful members of His Body. In other words, the Church is the storehouse as it were of the merits gained by Jesus, Mary, the saints, and us as well.

In the bulletin today you can find an explanation of indulgences and how to attain them – esp. in these first 8 days of November – to gain a plenary indulgence each day (full remission of sin – for a soul in Purgatory)

Why should we continue to pray for the dead, offer sacrifices and good works, and gain indulgences for the souls of the faithful departed? Because the only way we know for sure that someone who has died, is in heaven, is if the Church canonizes that person a Saint. Then we can pray to them; we no longer need to pray for them.

I’ll give a good example of the Church’s practice of continuing to pray for the dead – something I’ve shared with the altar boys.

There’s a little instruction book called the “Ordo” which tells the priest what Masses should be offered on particular days, what color he should wear for celebrating feast days, etc. 

In the United States, each state has its own Ordo – e.g., the dioceses in Wisconsin all use the same Ordo.

The Ordo for each state contains a necrology – that is, each day of the year it lists the priests who have died on that day; and the priest offering Mass that day is encouraged to remember his deceased brother priests who have died, and commend them to God’s mercy if they are not in heaven.

I have on occasion shown the altar boys when the Ordo in the State of Wisconsin lists deceased priests who served in this area even before Wisconsin was declared a state. 

For ex: the great Jesuit missionary priest who travelled down the Mississippi River with Louis Joliette, Father Jacques Marquette, died in 1675. Father Marquette was never canonized a saint; I don’t even know if his cause for sainthood has been proposed. So, he is listed in the Ordo and every May 19 (date of his death) we continue to pray for his soul.

Let us use this month of November to pray for all the souls of the faithful departed – a great spiritual work of mercy, knowing that if we pray for them and help them get to heaven, they will in turn pray for us here on earth – all part of the beautiful teaching of the Church on the Communion the Saints.