Dear Parishioners,

During the entire month of October, I preached about the Mass during the homily. We have another chance to learn more about the Eucharist. Mr. Cole DeSantis will present on “The Eucharist, Salvation and Union with God” on Friday November 17th at 6pm in the church hall. Here is a brief description of his presentation: The Eucharist was described by the Second Vatican Council as the “Source and Summit of the Christian Life.” The Eucharist is rooted in the Sacrificial Death and Resurrection of Christ, and in the Eucharist, Christ becomes present under the appearance of bread and wine. Through receiving the Eucharist, Christ becomes present in the soul in the most direct and intimate way possible this side of heaven, thereby deepening the union with God established in our Baptism. In this presentation, we will explore the nature of the spiritual union between God and creation, and how this union is deepened through the reception of the Eucharist. I hope to see you there. 

At the beginning of the month of November we celebrate two major events: All Saints and All Souls. All Souls reminds the faithful to pray for all who are deceased. But what exactly happens to a soul in purgatory. At the very least we know that it is a state of purification. St. Paul explains in his first letter to the Corinthians, chapter three:
 
"According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, the work of each will come to light, for the Day will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire [itself] will test the quality of each one’s work. If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire."
 
St. Paul compares our spiritual lives to a house. Christ is the foundation to our house, which never perishes or is destroyed, but what about the house built on top? If we build our house with quality materials (gold, brick, stone and so on), then a fire will not burn it down. Spiritually speaking these are our good works united to Christ, the virtues, the corporeal and spiritual works, and most of all our constant nourishment at Mass and Confession. Yet, if we build our house with inferior materials like wood, hay, or straw, then the house will burn down when tested by fire. Spiritually speaking these are our attachments, disordered affections, effects of our sins, and vices. We can examine our own spiritual lives and see whether we have been building lives of stone or hay.
 
Should we die in a state of grace, some of what we built in this life will be burned away in the next life. C.S. Lewis titled one of his works The Great Divorce, because in heaven there can be absolutely no piece or remnant of sin and hell. All must be purified. Benedict XVI in Spe Salve puts it beautifully:
 
"The encounter with [Christ] is the decisive act of judgement. Before his gaze all falsehood melts away. This encounter with him, as it burns us, transforms and frees us, allowing us to become truly ourselves. All that we build during our lives can prove to be mere straw, pure bluster, and it collapses. Yet in the pain of this encounter, when the impurity and sickness of our lives become evident to us, there lies salvation. His gaze, the touch of his heart heals us through an undeniably painful transformation “as through fire”. But it is a blessed pain, in which the holy power of his love sears through us like a flame, enabling us to become totally ourselves and thus totally of God." 

In Christ,
Fr. Barrow