Mercy for Souls Conference: Talk by Fr. Dan Cambra, MIC.

I always like to point out the obvious because sometimes what seems to be obvious isn't obvious but there's a rack back there towards the exit doors that has our latest Marian help or bulletin magazine and if you don't already have a subscription you can certainly sign up for it and guess who's in the center fo oh I just pretend to blush I think brother Jeff did a wonderful job yes I always get a little nervous when I share a pulpit with somebody that they're going to steal all my material and he only stole a little bit that's good but that that's okay because I usually have about five hours worth of material anyways and and people are usually tapping their watches and pointing it clocks anyway so one of the things that brother Jeff mentioned was one of my favorite passages from st. Paul's first letter to the Corinthians and wouldn't you know when I walked in there was somebody who came up to me and asked me a question about where is it written in the scriptures and when I heard Jeff quoting first Corinthians chapter 3 verse 15 I made me very happy that he was quoting that very very exact line that st. Paul uses to talk about purgatory he doesn't use the word purgatory but he uses an ongoing Old Testament acknowledgement about what purgatory was about that we would be purged of our imperfections burned away as if by flames of fire as if by flames of fire because we are talking about a metaphysical existence and that's important to remember and because this person was not somebody I thought had much of a better memory than myself I said one of the easy ways that I memorized this particular reading is that we have one rosary with three sets of mysteries and 15 decades 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verse 15 of course then Pope John Paul gave us the Luminous Mysteries and now you're all on your own what can I possibly say to help you remember that little scripture quote when you find yourself in a conversation with someone I had hoped that Susan would be here and that she might tell us one of her favorite stories about someone who had an effect on somebody who was dying we're about the praying for the holy souls in purgatory but were also about preparing people to die well and part of preparing people to die well is praying for them that they will die in peace and we certainly have numerous examples of st. Faustina praying for souls that were in torment in their final hour and it was precisely at their final hour that Jesus would have her by locate from her cell in the convent to their bedside and when she arrived she would see that the soul was dying alone in their bed surrounded by demons that were tormenting the soul and convincing the soul that they should despair because they were not in a good state of grace but Faustina would begin praying the Divine Mercy and as she prayed the Divine Mercy chaplet the devil's would put their hands over what appeared to be their ears and they would go screaming out of the room because her prayers were like fiery poison on them her prayers bought peace to the individual that was dying and they died in peace when I was a newly ordained priest and I was assigned to a parish in the suburbs of Chicago I found myself very quickly being called on on a regular basis between the hours of 1 o'clock in the morning and 4 o'clock in the morning to come please anoint someone in the hospital it took me a couple of years before I figured out all of the more experienced priests had put their phones on some kind of answering service and I was answering phone calls for about five neighboring parishes but I was young and quite full of enthusiasm at the time and so I'd immediately say yes and I would begin to get dressed and begin praying a Divine Mercy chaplet and I would rush to the hospital and I would get to the hospital and very often I would find somebody who was very much at peace and sometimes family members would tell me well he he suddenly became rather peaceful shortly after we asked for a priest to come and anoint him because I was praying the chaplet for them and I would pray the prayers for the anointing of the sick and impart the apostolic blessing and sometimes while I was still in the room all the vital signs would disappear and the person would die in peace and I would think to myself I had done a good job that day and sometimes I would practically snap my arm out of its socket patting myself on the back I may still have things to work on so anyways Susan suggested that I read from one of her books about a particular individual it was not a priest that was on the scene but a religious sister the it's referred to in her book the holy souls in purgatory and I believe it's available in the bookstore in the gift shop and it begins by saying I'm dying sister mr. Morrison said on a low gruff voice I don't know what you could do to help me sister Agnes looked at the old man sitting up in bed and somehow his face was familiar well I really would like to pray for you she answered it's never too late to say a prayer as their conversation progressed mr. Morrison admitted I don't know if God wants to hear about me I've done a lot of bad things in my life no matter what you have done the nun assured him God will forgive you you just need to ask him with a sincere heart and after you've died I will continue to pray for you the idea of prayers for the dead startled him after I've died why would you pray for me after I'm dead what good is that there's always hope sister Agnes insisted are you Catholic no the man said I never really spent much time in church sister Agnes explained Catholics believe that if you ask God to forgive your sins before you die you'll eventually get to heaven and we'll eat we believe that by praying for people we can help them even after they died it's from the Old Testament the man said nothing war and after he had gently closed his eyes sister Agnes quietly left his room when Sister Agnes returned a few days later mr. Morrison's face seemed even paler than before and he labored for every breath even so he struggled to sit up and dead as soon as she entered the room one of the nurses as said you wanted to see me the nun said I'd like to know more about what it means to be a Catholic the man responded sister Agnes smiled what did I say the other day that interested you she asked sister he began for longer than I can remember the people around me have only seemed to care about how much money they could make off of me now you're telling me that people will care enough about me to pray for me even when I'm gone I like the sound of that in the days that followed sister Agnes met with the man regularly to teach him all that she could about the Catholic faith after that mr. Morrison was baptized a few weeks later in early June 1979 mr. Morrison died hundreds came to mourn his passing they remembered what a famous actor he was but sister Agnes could only remember how appreciative Marion Morrison also known as John Wayne had been how grateful he had been to know that someone cared enough to pray for him both now and in the days to come so it is with the church suffering that we act as intercessors you and I are the church militant and I'm anticipating that I will be seeing John Wayne in eternity and I am NOT being presumptuous in implying that I will be in any place other than with God now you might think to yourself really father damn you've admitted that you have the ego the size of North America how can you in fact say that you think you're going to be in heaven I'll tell you why I think I'm going to be in heaven and I'm hoping that I can avoid purgatory altogether and I'm hoping that you will all avoid purgatory all together do you all know the one thing that you need to do to avoid purgatory altogether you need to love God with your whole heart all your mind and all your strength and your neighbors yourself the great commandment and I can't honestly think that any of you would be here if you didn't already love God with your whole mind now we've got to work on the rest right absolutely in the diary sister faustina talks about an interesting encounter she had with a particular religious one night a sister who had died two months previously came to me she was a sister of the first choir sisters of the first choir were the ones who did the teaching and the singing sisters of the second choir were the ones who did the cooking the cleaning the washing tended the garden did all kinds of menial tasks Sister Faustina was a sister of the second choir this was a sister of the first choir who probably had much more leisure time to devote to prayer she was a sister of the first choir I saw her in a terrible condition all in flames with her face painfully distorted this lasted only a short time and then she disappeared shudder went through me I did not know whether she was suffering in purgatory or in hell i redoubled my prayers for her in a few days later she appeared to me again looking even worse I was astonished to see her in a worse condition after the prayers I had offered for her and I asked haven't my prayers helped you at all she answered that my prayers had not helped her and that nothing would help her I said to her and the prayers which the whole community has offered for you have they not been of any help to you she said no these prayers had helped some other souls if my prayers are not helping you a sister please stop coming to me she disappeared at once for some time after some time she came back again to me during the night but already her appearance had changed there were no longer any flames as there had been before and her face was radiant her eyes beaming with joy she told me that I had a true love for my neighbor and that many other souls had profited from my prayers she urged me not to cease praying for the souls in purgatory and she added that she herself would not remain there much longer it seems that sister of the first choir had neglected her duty as a religious to pray for sisters who had died and benefactors of the community who anticipated upon death that the sisters would all be praying for their souls were also among the people that she had neglected in prayer and precisely for her neglect of praying for the souls in purgatory both from her own community and from the souls of benefactors of the community she had received a punishment that even she had not imagined Sister Faustina took this is a very important in powerful sign in her life and it wasn't the only time that she realized this reality and another time in the evening I was walking the garden saying my rosary and I came to a seminary and I opened the little gate and began to pray for a while and I heard a voice saying to me pray for me and so I began praying for the soul that was asking for my prayers I became rather introspected and reflected for a long time on how I should fulfill God's will by praying for as many of the souls as possible following evening I came back to the same place and prayed for the soul that I had been praying for earnestly earlier and again the soul mentioned a request to be prayed for the feast of All Souls was approaching and on the feast of All Souls returned and although the gate was locked I placed my hand against the gate and it sprang open and I walked into the garden and I prayed there but the souls who were buried there and a soul mentioned to me that the soul the prayers that I had been saying for her over the past month had not gone to benefit her but were benefiting souls that she had had a responsibility to pray for and that only now her prayers were benefitting herself teresting don't you think I find that stuff really cool now there are some Saints who seem to imply that you will not quickly or easily avoid purgatory st. John of the Cross said only a small number of souls achieve perfect love and perfect love is necessary to enter into heaven st. Teresa of Avila says only a few will be able to avoid purgatory and by that she was not implying that everybody goes to purgatory but rather that the largest group of people probably go to purgatory and the second largest group of people probably go to hell only a few will be able to avoid purgatory st. John Vianney quoted as saying only a few will avoid purgatory and the sufferings and the sufferings there exceed our imagination now that's pretty depressing don't you think and I didn't want to just quote to you from Saints that we're going to depress you I want to give you the opposing point of view if you will there are Saints to give us a lot more hope and two that come to mind rather quickly are always st. Faustina and Saint Torres of the Child Jesus saying Torres of the Child Jesus reflecting on the writings of st. Catherine of Genoa whom brother Jeff also gave us a reflection on it said that the fire in purgatory is the fire of God's love don't we want to be enveloped with the fire of God's love here on earth and she would say I feel the fire of God's love every time I receive Holy Communion I have a burning desire in my heart to be enveloped by his love to enter into his heart to be one with him how can it be any different in eternity and how could God give me this feeling and this desire if he didn't intend to fulfill it because God is goodness itself makes sense and what was it that she said separates the great Saints from the rest of creation trust trusting in God's providential care for us it's what st. Torres said to st. Faustina and we read it in the diary at paragraph 130 Trust is what separates the great saints in heaven from the rest of humanity and you and I need to always be mindful of asking God for the grace to trust him fully we all have fears we all have worries and concerns but they all kind of fall to the wayside the more we grow in trust the more we grow close to knowing the fullness of God's love in our lives st. Terez and says the the fire of love is more sanctifying than the fire of purgatory the fire in purgatory is something that most people fear but if you think for a moment where's this fire what is this metaphysical fire it is God's burning desire that you be one with him in eternity if somebody is in love with you doesn't that cause you joy doesn't that make you feel comfortable doesn't that cause you to think to yourself I could ask them for a favor and they would probably be glad to do it think about your closest friends think about your very closest friend would it be that much to ask them for a favor maybe you don't want to be beholding to them but if you ask them for a favor aren't you reasonably confident that they're going to do it and that's because they love you and they're good people how much more if they were goodness itself how much more if they were love itself God is love and those who abide in God abide in his love the burning furnace of his love as Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque would have heard from Christ when he revealed the Sacred Heart see this love which has seen this heart which has loved humanity so much and so few have returned that love hopefully you and I are going to be among those who return that love maybe not as with the flu gence with which God has loved us but maybe with as much enthusiasm as weak human are capable of giving God does not call us to do something that's beyond our ability as I was coming in somebody passed me some holy cards and they asked me if I knew this prayer and I said oh yes I know the priest that used to pass these out father Peter Mary rookie who died in his late 90s I I don't remember exactly how old he was but I remember going to his birthday party when I think he was 95 and I used to see him about three or four times a year we had a mutual friend who invited us over to her house for supper and I I absolutely was speechless in his presence I know none of my Marian brothers believed that I am capable of being speechless but father rookie was an extraordinary Irishman who could talk wall a talk the paint off the wall and I would just sit and be entertained by one story after another that he would tell and he was a very holy man and I had known him for about 20 years and when I first met him he told me a story about something that had happened to him a mystical experience that he had happened in relationship to the Blessed Virgin Mary he said you know when I was in my late 70s I really wasn't doing too well and I thought to myself I have accomplished everything I'm going to accomplish in life and I think that I have advanced in holiness to the degree that I'm capable of advancing and holiness and he said I came before the Blessed Mother in prayer and gazing into her face of an image of Mary from the depth of his heart he said I'm ready to die I'm really ready to die I think it would be a good thing if you would intercede for me before the hand of God and let me die I'm willing at this point to accept from God the fact that I might have to spend some time in purgatory perfecting my imperfections and being ushered into heavenly glory and he heard the Blessed Mother speak to him in his heart in interlocution and she said my dear son you would rather carry your own weight for 15 years rather than endure 15 seconds in purgatory he was in his late 70s and for the next 20 years he carried his own weight in the world he remained a priest in active ministry to the very end of his life and I'm hoping that he didn't even endure 15 seconds in purgatory rather extraordinary saint of the very early church she died in the year 2000 203 203 so this is early in the church her name is st. Perpetua everyone's 12 o clock alarms are going off I guess I should be done but I'm not same pipette OA and same Felicity are two of the Saints that are mentioned in the first Eucharistic canon and often I hear people say who are these people why are they even in this canon I say petawatt is especially important for people like you and I who pray for the souls in purgatory because in the year 2003 when she died before she died a martyr's death being eaten by wild animals that was the way they killed us off in those days on successfully killing us off st. Perpetua while in prison had a vision of her younger brother she was probably only 20 years old herself but her younger brother had died when he was 7 years old and she saw her younger brother in a portion of purgatory that is reserved for children and she said he looked dirty he had a scar on his face because he had died of cancer of the mouth and he his hair was disheveled and he was thirsty and he was trying to reach up to a basin that was filled with water but he couldn't reach it and so she prayed psalm 130 out of the depths I cry to thee O Lord the prayer that we prayed at the beginning of our gathering she prayed psalm 130 the penitential son for her brother the following day she had another dream of him another vision of him and she said now he looked like his hair was combed his clothes were cleaner and the bowl was almost at his chest and he could scoop some water out and he could drink some she continued praying Psalm 130 for him and the next time she saw him the bowl was now at his waist his clothes were completely clean he had a slate scar on his jaw that's all there was no big wound like there had been when he died his hair was nicely comb he took a cup and drank a cup of water out of the bowl and then he went off and he was playing as she says as children do she died the following day martyrs death but before she died she related that story and that story became part of the tradition of the church now where would this place be in purgatory well in I think it's in the next month's newsletter I write about the different levels of purgatory and I write about something that we say in the Creed every Sunday Jesus descended into hell now why would Jesus descend into hell well the problem is our English words we don't have very good English words to describe a lot of things in spite of our immense vocabulary Gehenna is where the devil is it is the permanent residence of the devil and the damned souls but the next level above so to speak hell is the purgatory where people are purged of their sins and imperfections the third level is sometimes referred to as the bosom of Abraham when Jesus tells the story about the rich man and Lazarus and Lazarus goes and he's resting against Abraham and there's a big chasm between Abraham and Lazarus and the rich man who is in a fiery denizen well one of the things that we forget about is that when Christ died on the cross the first thing he did after his death was he descended to the bosom of Abraham touche ol to that place where the righteous were awaiting their Redemption icons very often icons in the eastern right churches picture Christ pulling Adam and Eve out of a dark pit along with bringing of Abraham and Moses and all of the other Old Testament Saints because they could not enter into heavenly glory because Jesus hadn't opened the gates of heaven they were resting in the bosom of Abraham they were resting in shale the place of shadows the limbo of the father's and don't start screaming at me about limbo patients people patients limbo was never a doctrine of the Catholic Church but rather it is part of the biblical understanding of the Jewish people now the righteous go to the bosom of Abraham but what about babies what about miscarriages what about little children that haven't reached the age of reason they go to the limbo of the innocent and the limbo of the innocent was a place not purgatory not the place of the shadows Sheol or the bosom of Abraham but it was a place for them to now come to maturity some of the great Saints imply that part of the reason why so many Saints including st. Faustina died at the age of 33 is because that ultimately in heaven we will all be 33 so to speak the age at which Christ died why is it when the Blessed Mother appears to the children at Fatima or Lourdes or anywhere else she's not a 75 year old woman like we understand from the tradition of the church that she was when she died but she appears as a young woman part of the reason is God promises us us a glorified body when we talk about purgatory sometimes it's important for us to realize that Jesus's descent into hell was a descent into Chaillot of the Old Testament of the Jewish understanding and you and I still do not have a full understanding of what goes on in purgatory one of the Saints relates that each of the particular sins of humanity is dealt with in a different way to purchase of our attachment to that sin according to our fault and that particular Saint that truly made me shudder one time is I'm trying to think marry Mary Magdalene deposit PA zzi and she talks about purgatory she mentions that these different sections of purgatory had different realities to them and when I got to the passage about what happens to the impatient Tiida caused me a little shudder because as my brothers in Christ will know I very frequently I kept my phone tapped my watch and look at the time when there supposed to be a meal served at noon and it's already five past when somebody was supposed to start mass at 10 o'clock and it's already ten past ten and we still haven't gotten the incense fired up I'm not a patient person but in purgatory Mary Magdalene de Paz all of the people who were impatient are sitting in a dark room with no sound no light at no sense of time and I thought to myself how bad can that be I mean seriously folks I've been locked in confessionals with no sinners on the other side I'm sitting in that dark box and I'm thinking now to myself this is going to be my Ferger time one time somebody said look at your watch and see what exact time it is close your eyes and try not to hear any noises or what-have-you and try to guess how long it takes for 60 seconds to pass don't count no counting as if you're counting seconds no one-mississippi two-mississippi three-mississippi absolute silence don't think about anything don't say anything and see how long 60 seconds is I closed my eyes I looked at my watched I kind of got silent in a room and then I looked down at my watch and 12 seconds had gone by and then I said a Divine Mercy chaplet asking God to give me a greater sense of trusting in his providential care for me because we all know the promise whatever you ask God for by means of this chaplet he will give you I don't know what it is that you need to pray for but I do know you know that each one of us needs to pray every day and we need to pray for people who are dying without comforters without people who are around them to guide them in holiness so that other Marian Morrison's will find their way into heavenly glory by people like sister Agnes and you and I

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Length: 38min 44sec (2324 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 10 2018