THE MAIN STREET

As Catholics we remember to pray for the souls of our beloved faithful departed during the month of November. In fact in St. Martha's church, pictures of the faithful departed loved ones, friends and relatives are on display at one area of the church. Some people may find it strange that I have a devotion to pray for the souls of the dead. Of the so many Catholic devotions that we know of, praying for the eternal repose of the souls is one devotion that I have committed to surprisingly and extraordinarily, I should say. It all started in 2006 when I had this very unusual experience with a hit and run victim who was lying dead on the spot for around three and a half hours, I prefer to assume based on what the onlookers said. The accident happened very early in the morning in EDSA a main street in the heart of the city in the Philippines. My heart was moved with pity for that poor guy that I offered the rosary prayer for his soul. After that incident, as far as my disposition for the dead souls are concerned things were never the same again. Something very unnatural happened immediately after that because I was on my way to a very important appointment which I was already late for. Earlier I had been told that I would no longer be entertained and would just be wasting my time if I would still go. Anyway I still did and there it happened. I was not declined and was still allowed to enter. It was most unusual that those who came earlier and on time were denied entry and rejected. The unimaginable happened, the documents I submitted needed some major revisions but it was overlooked, signed and approved. There was only one thing in my mind at that time while it was all happening, that dead guy’s soul that I prayed for, whom I rendered some love and mercy. As I've said earlier, things were never the same again thus I believe that there is life after death and it pays to pray for our departed brothers and sister. Someday when we come face to face with that reality, may we receive the breath of life everlasting from God. I've had several more special experiences related to it and also with other souls that I have prayed for. They are too many to narrate right now. This particular story strikes me now even more because the details closely resemble the passages from today's 1st reading that I got inspired to share this. Amen. Hallelujah!

Revelation 11:4-12
...Their corpses will lie in the main street of the great city...after the three and a half days, a breath of life from God entered them. When they stood on their feet, great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven say to them, “Come up here.” So they went up to heaven in a cloud...

When I first saw that man lying dead in the street partially covered by newspapers, it may look a lot like there is no hope left for him considering the kind of fate and death he met. It was an untimely, unprepared and unexpected turn which also became the end of his life on earth. When things seem to look so bad as in this kind of bad that I've seen for myself or even worse, I know for sure that it is not the way it appears to be. What could one ever think of a man left dead lying on a main street of a great city where a lot of people see it as they come and go. Nothing seems to be the way it really is for there is always hope. To God alone do we look to be saved. Amen. Hallelujah!


Psalm 144:1b, 2, 9-10
R: Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
...My mercy and my fortress, my stronghold, my deliverer, my shield, in whom I trust...

There is life after death. Just when others may think that death is the end of everything and nothing else follows, for those of us who believe in the resurrection, we hope to discover on that dreaded day for unbelievers that it is just the beginning of new and eternal life with God in heaven. And just like that man left dead in the main street, there is a connecting highway leading to heaven. Amen. Hallelujah!


Luke 20:27-40
...those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. 36 They can no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise.