Dare We Hope?

Gospel: Matthew 25: 31-46

Today's feast day leads us to consider and have hope that all souls may find eternal life with God one day.  The first source of hope is found in the Gospel text of the sheep and goats.  The criteria for salvation is not membership in a particular race or religion.  It is based solely on love and care for the poor and marginalized in this world.  In caring for them we care for Christ, even if we are unaware of that fact, as was the case in the Gospel story.  

Our second source of hope in salvation for all lies in our belief in Purgatory, a place of purification on the way to heaven.  The catechism speaks of sins forgiven in the next life, and about prayers offered for the dead that they may be delivered from their sins.  Again, one need not belong to a particular race or religion to enter Purgatory, and one may pray for anyone in having sin forgiven by God.  If anyone can enter Purgatory, and Purgatory is a place of purification where eternal life is assured, then anyone can gain eternal life in this way too.

This hope for all souls is not that all will definitively attain eternal life, but that all have the possibility of attaining it in this life and in the life to come.  It is a recognition of the fact that all people belong to the Church in one way or another, which is another way of saying that the Church has the responsibility to care for all people.