Today we celebrate All Souls' Day. Yesterday was All Saints' Day, the day we celebrate and honor all those in heaven, since that's what a saint is-- someone who is in heaven. We sometimes think that a saint is some special, super-holy person, and certainly there are such folks, but heaven must also be filled with basic people "of good will in whose hearts grace works in an unseen way." (quoting Gaudium et Spes, para. 22) Perhaps that is why the Church gives us the reading it does on All Saints' Day-- the Beatitudes. The behaviors or attitudes Jesus describes-- being poor in spirit, meek, hungering for righteousness, being a peacemaker, being merciful, mourning, Being of heart-- those are ways of being which we can all display, at least from time to time, and which are not uniquely Christian. But the point of today, at least traditionally, is to pray for those not yet in heaven, the souls in purgatory. We used to say "the poor souls in purgatory," but I wonder about that. Historically that usage was associated with all sorts of abuses, selling indulgences and such, and folks got people motivated by saying all sorts of things about purgatory which we don't say anymore and probably never should have said. The reality is that the Church's teaching on purgatory is terribly brief, only three paragraphs in the Catechism (numbers 1030- 1032). There is nothing in those paragraphs about physical pain or suffering, just the notion that those who die in God's grace and friendship are assured of salvation but must experience some purification since they are not yet perfect. What does that look like and how long does it take? We don't know, but I can tell you that I have heard lots of priests, and at least one Archbishop, speak at funerals and proclaim that the person who just died three or four days or a week earlier is in heaven. One of the biblical references the Church uses as a basis for the teaching about purgatory comes from Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 3:15) which speaks of a person being saved, "but only as one escaping through flames," so maybe our time in purgatory is just like that-- a quick sprint through a line of flames. As usual, C.S. Lewis has a way of thinking about purgatory which seems to get to the essence of the doctrine in a very-practical way. He says we will want to be "purified"-- cleansed, if you will. Imagine if you showed up at the gates of heaven with smelly, dirty clothes and needing a bath, only to look in and see everyone else in elegant gowns and suits, looking spectacular. Even if St. Peter told you to come on in, and promised that no one would treat you any differently because you looked and smelled bad, wouldn't you want to get cleaned up? Wouldn't you want to be cleansed-- purified if you will-- even if that might be inconvenient or even painful? And it is to aid in that process-- to make it as quick and efficient as possible-- that the Church has always offered prayers for the dead, just as in the Old Testament Second Book of Maccabees (written about 167 B.C.), Judas Maccabeus and his companions prayed for their dead companions found after a battle to have been wearing good luck charms forbidden by Jewish law (2 Macc 12:42). It is a normal and natural thing to do to pray for our beloved dead, even if it turns out that they don't need it because they have already sprinted through the flames. Even if they don't need the prayers, we sure do!