I Believe in LIFE EVERLASTING

November 2 has been the traditional day for Catholics to honor and pray for our beloved departed. Our faith tells us that death is not the end of life, but a beginning, a transition to the "next life" which is fuller and more glorious. After having rejoiced yesterday for the gift of all the Saints, on whom we have a special link as baptized Christians, we pray today for our departed brethren who are in the purifying suffering in purgatory awaiting the day when they will join the company of the saints in heaven. May this celebration remind us then of the transitoriness of human life, and that we have to make use of all of God's gifts while here on earth, for we may never pass this way again.
So as we visit our departed brothers and sisters in the cemetery, let us pray for them that God may have mercy on them for all their shortcomings, and that He may reward them for the goodness they have shown here on earth. And with the Universal Church we pray:

Merciful Father,
hear our prayers and console us.
As we renew our faith in your Son,
whom you raised form the dead,
strengthen our hope that all our departed brothers and sisters
will share in His resurrection,
He who lives and reigns with you and with the Holy Spirit,
one God forever and ever. Amen.