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Message From Bishop
Message From Bishop
November 2024
Dear Rev. Fathers, Religious, and People of God,
On the 1 of November, we will be celebrating the feast of All Saints. I wish you all a very Happy Feast of All Saints. On this joyous day, the Church commemorates all the saints, known and unknown, canonised or not-canonised and doing so, we honour the Holy Spirit who perfected them and made them great. All these saints have to be our role models. In addition to this, the celebration should revive in us the desire for our sanctification and the hope of heaven where our holy brethren await us.
Having honoured the triumphant Church in heaven on November 1", the Church on earth honours the members of the Church suffering in purgatory on November 2nd, thus demonstrating the supernatural bond of communion of saints. The Church teaches us that the souls in purgatory are helped by our daily prayers, by our charitable actions and offering of Holy Masses. We learn from the history that praying for the departed souls, giving alms in their names and offering masses had already existed and it is seen in the Book of Maccabees. The souls in purgatory, being unable to help themselves, depend on the prayers of the pilgrim church for their redemption. Offering of our prayers and sacrifices for the departed souls, do not leave them forgotten or abandoned. It brings benefits to ourselves too, because it helps us to change our lives, to avoid sin and to prepare ourselves for a good and holy death. One day we, too, shall pass out of this world, to join them; and we, too, might need help. Let us be generous in helping them through our prayers and sacrifices, for what is given to them will come back to us a hundredfold reward. The day will come when we and they will stand together in the heavenly court, beholding the face of God, in the glorious company of the angels and saints, and join in their unending hymn of praise.
Please instruct your parishioners to offer masses, do charity in the name of the departed souls, request them to visit the cemeteries during this month. It is our duty and obligation to pray for our deceased bishops, priests and religious who did their ministry in our diocese.
Thanking you and invoking God's blessings, I remain.