Want To "Save a Soul Today"?
When was the last time the first
thought that came into your mind as you got up to enjoy the gift of another day
was “Let me save a soul today?” For most of us, my educated guess would be,
either not recently or never.
Have you heard a homily within
the past year urging you to pray for the salvation of your soul and/or the souls
of your loved ones and friends? - not so
much.
Do you ever think of where the
souls of the 6,815 people (as estimated by the CIA World Factbook) who die on
average everyday in this country have gone? Probably not!
Odd (and troubling) isn’t it, that
even though the primary mission of the Catholic Church is to save souls, we
rarely hear or think about that subject?
To paraphrase the great wisdom of
Servant of God Madeleine Delbrel: how then can we desire to be saved, if we do
not know we are lost?
For lots of reasons, too many Catholics have become quite complacent or even unconcerned about their eternal
residence or that of those they love. After all, we are all “good and decent folk”
and our loving and merciful God is not going to send any of us to some eternal inferno
forever. We are partially right but terribly incorrect as well: God does not
send anyone to hell. Those who populate that Godless hole have chosen to be there
by the way they chose to live their lives here – their way, rather then God’s.
So maybe it’s time for all of us to pay
closer attention to the salvation of souls and actually do something that will help
us and others avail ourselves of His mercy and occupy the heavenly mansions God
wishes to give us.
Father Joseph Homick of the Contemplatives of St. Joseph in California
Imagine how many souls could be
saved, if everyone who reads this article tells their friends about it and then
orders copies of this pamphlet from Father for their respective parishes! I
am obtaining copies for my parish. Will you?
With the good Father’s permission,
the content of his flyer (less the instructions on how to say the Chaplet,
which are available on the link in the column to the right of this post) follows.
Please read and share this widely:
Save a Soul Today!
Do you know
that you can do something that can be a direct and immediate contribution to
the salvation of souls? Jesus told St. Faustina something of great value in
this regard. (Since she is a canonized saint and her writings have received
Church approval, it is worthy of belief, even though this is not on the same
level as Scripture and Tradition.) At a certain moment Jesus said this:
"Pray as much as you can for the dying... Be assured that the grace of
eternal salvation for certain souls in their final moment depends upon Your
prayer..." (Diary, #1777).
As members of
the Body of Christ we are required to pray for each other, for this is an
important means of bringing God's grace to souls. The hour of death is the
most critical time in anyone's life, especially if they are in any way
estranged from God. They need help now—and the only thing that will save them
is the grace of God, which draws them to repentance, faith, and trust in Him.
He expects us to pray for that grace for the dying. For, as God said to the
prophet Ezekiel: "1 have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that
the wicked turn from his way and live" (33:11).
But how do we
do it? The Lord gave St. Faustina a special prayer to be used for this purpose.
It is called the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Here's one thing the Lord said about
it: "Whoever will recite [the chaplet] will receive great mercy at the
hour of death... Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to
recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from My infinite
mercy..." (#687).
That's good
news, but what if someone is unable to say it himself, for whatever reason? Not
to worry: "At the hour of their death, 1 defend as My own glory every soul
that will say this chaplet; or when others say it for a dying person, the
pardon is the same..." (#811). This is where you and I come in, where we pray
for ailing members of the Body to be granted grace and mercy unto salvation.
Now is the time
to start rescuing souls! Here's what you can do: around 3:00 every afternoon
(this is the "hour of mercy" since it is the hour of Jesus' death on
the Cross), pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy. Not for just anyone, however, but
for whoever is in most danger of eternal separation from God—someone who is
about to die in mortal sin, or perhaps a dying loved one—so that this soul may
be granted, by the mercy of the Lord, the grace of final repentance unto
salvation, if this prayer can help open the hearts of the dying just enough to
say "yes" to Jesus as they are leaving this world, then it's all
worth it.
The chaplet is
based on the power of prayer with faith, and on Jesus' everlasting love and
infinite mercy. "The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its
effects" (James 5:16). To pray this chaplet is to help enable a sinner to
repent at the last minute, like the Good Thief. Let us be instrumental in winning
the grace of final repentance for sinners. "Whoever brings back a sinner
from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a
multitude of sins" (James 5:20).
Thousands of
people die every day, and many of them may very well be in a state of sin. We
can help at least some of them get to Heaven. What a great and glorious work
this is! Imagine, at the end of your life, being greeted in Heaven by numerous
souls, all thanking you because the Lord had mercy on them and saved them,
since you prayed for them at the hour of their death! What a marvelously
rewarding blessing to enjoy for all eternity!
It doesn't
matter that much if you can't pray the prayer right at 3:00. Do it whenever you
can; just do it! Let's start harvesting souls for the Kingdom God
(Image source: theimmaculateheart.com)