By Clare Nayebare.
You have probably wondered what makes the month of November a special one if you’ve keenly followed events in the Catholic church, but the answer is not far! It’s two first days sum it all of course not forgetting the advent part of it.
The church prepares 2nd November for us to remember and pray for the faithful departed just a day after commemorating and celebrating the Saints who have made it to heaven.
Fr. Joachim Kasujja town church parish Fortportal diocese very well explains the significance of all saints day as a blessed recommended day to the universal church and that saints are of great importance that is they pray for us on top of being our friends. Fr. Kasujja says a lot can be learnt from their lives since they managed to live well their lives within a word full of temptations and made it to heaven.They are exemplary therefore of the kind of life a Christian ought to live.
When we come back to the 2nd November, the same way we are entitled to remember and pray for “all souls”.It is therefore our responsibility for any Christian who is alive to pray for them. Different people honor this day differently according to their diverse cultures. Many go to the cemeteries to redecorate the graves while others clean them up as others light candles for the souls of the departed.
“The greatest gift you can give to our dear brothers and sisters who have departed from us is yo pray for them,” says Fr. Richard Bomera Fortportal diocese.
Fr. Bomera adds that The lord is full of mercy and compassionately listens to our prayers each time we pray and thus appeals to all christians to take part in praying for the departed souls.
Fr. Francis Byaruhanga the Fortportal Youth chaplain,summarizes the mother church in three parts.That is the pilgrim church also the living Christians who can access the world and it’s pleasures, the souls in purgatory also souls undergoing cleansing hopefully to be forgiven and the saints who have made it.
The connection in this is that all can be equated to a process leads to the other where he therefore requests christians to pray tirelessly for the souls in purgatory because one day they’ll return the prayers.
According to a one Florence Bamuturaki 67 a Christian from virika parish in reference to the catechism she studied,as long as one dies when they are baptised, because of earthly scars of sins they proceed to purgatory and expresses the need for christians to pray tirelessly.she quotes the lord prayer that says what’s done on earth is actually the same in heaven stressing the need to secure their positions by prayer.
Just like the church honours these respective days consecutively,it’s important to think twice about them and choose to understand them.At the end of the day,we remain visitors in this world.So why not secure for yourself a special place in heaven by praying in honor of saints and for the souls in purgatory??
