St. Joseph the Worker

Dear Parishioners of St. Joseph the Worker:

ETERNAL REST GRANT UNTO THEM, O LORD,

AND LET PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE UPON THEM.

MAY THEIR SOULS, AND ALL THE SOULS

OF THE FAITHFULL DEPARTED,

THROUGH THE MERCY OF GOD,

REST IN PEACE.

AMEN.

 The above prayer is often recited at funerals, wake services, and burials.  It is a very old and traditional one that is comforting, and it puts the correct focus on death.  We pray for the deceased.  We ask that they be in the eternal light and love of heaven.  We implore that their souls are at peace.

We are in the month of November, the month in our Catholic Church when we pray for our deceased loved ones and all the departed in a special way.  Those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith depend on us to pray for them to be in the loving arms of our Lord in heaven.  We pray for all those poor souls in purgatory who await the entrance into the glory of eternal life.

In the niche of our church where the Holy Family statue is as well as the vigil candles, is our Book of the Dead.  You are asked to pray for these names of deceased loved ones, friends, coworkers, etc.  You may sign the Book with a name(s) that you want to be remembered at all the Masses celebrated at SJW during the month of remembrance.

In the Catholic Church, we believe in praying for the dead as they pray for us.  We believe in the Communion of Saints, whereby we are one with them and they with us in prayer and thought.  We ask their intercession to our Lord many times with special requests.  The deceased person can be an inspiration to us to live our lives as did they, in holiness, faith, and love.

Let us use these November days in praying for our dead.  May the prayer above guide us and move us to remember in faith those who have left this world and desire to have their souls, and one day their bodies, in heaven for all eternity.

Your Pastor, Father Joe

P.S.  Thank you to all who were part of our Remembrance Mass this past Wednesday, November 2^nd, the Feast of All Souls.  At Mass that evening, we remembered in a particular way those parishioners who died since last November 2^nd, as well as relatives of parishioners who died.  It was a beautiful celebration of life, the life the deceased enjoyed on this earth, and the life, we pray, is theirs in heaven.