By Joe Pisani

TRUMBULL — Father Brian P. Gannon S.T.D still remembers his years as a seminarian in Rome, when on All Souls Day he would jump on his “motorino” and ride outside the city to the massive Campo Verano Cemetery, founded in the 19th century, where American priests and seminarians were buried.

Huge crowds of Italians would be waiting at the gates, ready to surge inside when the cemetery opened at 7 a.m. so they could go to the graves of their loved ones and pray.

“It was a very powerful witness to our hope that even after death, our prayers are heard by God, and that those who have not died in the perfect grace of Christ, nevertheless will be saved because of his great mercy, his great love,” said Father Gannon, pastor of St. Theresa Church.

Their fervent prayer was like that of hundreds of Catholics throughout the diocese who observed the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed on November 2 at seven cemeteries.
Father celebrated Mass at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Trumbull, where the faithful filled a large tent while others stood outside.

“Today we reunite ourselves with our loved ones who have gone before us, and we pray for them — as the prayers of the funeral Mass say — so they can be freed from their sins,” he said.
For those who believe in Christ and trust him and his infinite mercy, today is a powerful day in the life of the church, he said.

“It’s a reminder to us of our mortality, but it’s also a reminder to us of the infinite love of Almighty God, because Christ suffered and entered into our mortality to die a terrible death on the cross and rise from the dead to give us all the great, great hope of eternal life.”

In his homily, Father Gannon said the practice of praying for deceased loved ones goes back thousands of years and is mentioned in the Old Testament Book of Maccabees, where prayers were offered to free the departed from their sins. The devotion has continued for Christians from some 2000 years ago in the Roman catacombs.

Father also spoke of the “theological economy,” which unites the living and the dead.

“The most important thing in life — which is Almighty God, our relationship with him and our relationship with one another — is exactly what life is all about,” he said. “Our love for one another, our seeking to bring goodness to one another even after death. The remarkable charity, the remarkable power that God bestows upon our prayers in order to help our loved ones, should they need a little extra to get to Heaven.

And then in Heaven, their prayers become even more powerful as they pray for us. This stunning, beautiful system is what God set up so that we love those who have gone before us, and they can continue to love us, rooting for us and praying for us.”

He also discussed the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity, and said our faith is grounded in Scripture and divine revelation. St. Paul said the greatest and most powerful force in human existence is charity, which was demonstrated by Christ who gave his life for us on the cross.

“We see many things going on in our wild and crazy world today, but the most powerful force that remains is divine love because when we gaze upon the holy cross of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, we think of the most profound power it carries — that God in human flesh died for each and every one of us and loves us more than we could ever possibly imagine.”

He said that hope, which is not simply optimism, is a supernatural confidence rooted in Christ’s suffering, death and resurrection.

“Hope assures believers that earthly separation caused by death is only temporary, transforming the grave into a sign of hope rather than finality,” he said. “The body doesn’t disappear. What happens is it’s waiting. The soul is waiting ultimately to be reunited with a glorified body that will never know illness, will never know sickness and will certainly never know death.”

Father Gannon said Christ intentionally endured violent suffering and death so that “He could fully empathize with us in our human frailty.

“Our Lord not only experienced death, but He decided to take on the absolute most violent parts of what death could possibly be so that He could give us a sense of empathy and compassion,” Father said. “So when we walk with our own difficulties in this world, He is ever at our side. He knows what we go through. He knows the solitude. He knows the difficulty. He knows the loneliness.”

He also urged the faithful to turn often to the Blessed Mother, who stood at the foot of the cross. As Simeon prophesied, a sword pierced the heart of Our Lady.

“If there’s anyone who understands the very poignant, very difficult moment of separation in death it would be our Mother, our Queen in Heaven, who watched her Son die on the cross in an agony that we cannot even possibly imagine, but she was filled with an incredible faith, hope and love not only for her Lord, but for her Son,” he said.

Father Gannon said that the more we bring Christ to a world desperately in need of the healing power of Jesus Christ, the more he reinsures our hope to be with him in the glory of Heaven forever.”

St. Theresa parishioner Andy Bausch, who was joined at Mass with his wife Meghan and their four children, said he prays for his deceased relatives and that they want their children to understand that although life on Earth may end, it continues with God in Heaven.

Stephen Johnson said that he often prays for his grandmother, his uncle, his aunt and especially his father, “who was not a good man and could benefit from the prayers and God’s mercy.” He added, “God’s pretty cool the way he does stuff, and although I can’t change the past, I’m working on changing the future.”

Jack and Debbie Fahey of St. Lawrence Parish in Shelton were recently honored for reaching their 50th anniversary at the annual Mass for Jubilarians. On All Souls Day, they came to Gate of Heaven to say a prayer for their grandson who is buried there.

“We always attend the Commemoration Mass in remembrance of our infant grandson and say a prayer at his grave,” Debbie said.