On November 2, 2016, the Chicago Cubs has made it to the
World Series Championship, defeating the Cleveland Indians with 8 -7! It was back in 1908, when the Cubs was the
World Series Champion last time. It was
even before the Wrigley Field, the home of the Cubs, was built. So, the Cubs
has won the World Series Championship for the very first time since the Wrigley
Field was built in 1914.
Imagine what it has been like to be the Cubs and the Cubs
fans for these 108 years, across generations.
Some address these long difficult years with a metaphor of “draught”,
while others call these years of no championship as a “curse”. Those who are
biblically-inclined may have compared these difficult years of the Cubs and its
fans to the 40-plus-year of the Exodus or about 25 years of journey of Abraham
and Sarah from Ur to Canaan. But, to me, these long years of the Cubs and the
Cubs fans have taken to the World Series Championship can be compared to
Purgatory. I know, bringing up Purgatory is very Catholic. But, that is what I
am and who I am. Besides, the Chicago Cubs is blessed with a Catholic chaplain,
Fr. Burke Masters, who was a college baseball team star player before entering
the seminary to become a Catholic priest. So, allow me to put the Cub’s long
journey to the World Series Championship in light of Purgatory.
Given that Purgatory is the state of being of spiritual
refinement to enter Heaven, these 108 years of no championship for the Cubs had
been a long critical refining period that the Cubs and its fans have endured
with hope. In a Catholic view, Purgatory is also the state where hope and faith
are tested in the most critical way. For the Cubs and its fans, these Purgatory
years from 1908 to 2016 have been a great test of their belief and hope for
winning the World Series Championship. In this regard, it was no coincidence
that the Cubs won the World Series Championship on All Souls Day (November 2),
2016.
On All Souls Day, our hearts and thoughts go out to the
souls in Purgatory. These words from the Eucharistic Prayer (II), “Remember
our brothers and sisters who have gone to their rest in the hope of rising
again; bring them and all the departed into the light of your presence”, during Mass, reflect our hearts and
thoughts for the souls in Purgatory.
The souls in Purgatory are the ones who died in the state of
grace, preparing to cleanse every remnant of sins, including the Original Sin,
so that they can enter Heaven as saints. While God’s grace continue to work on
purification of the souls in Purgatory, our prayers for them are very important
for God’s grace to work. For God’s grace to take its effect on us, it requires
our faith, and our prayers are expressions of our faith. So, we pray for the
souls in Purgatory to be commended to be sent to Heaven as saints on All Souls
Day, while reflecting on how we will be when Jesus returns to judge who will be
with him to enter Heaven and who will not.
The Chicago Cubs could not make it to the World Series
Championship for the past 108 years because they had problems that kept them
from playing to its best abilities. The impeding factors can be compared to the
effects of sins and the remnant of the Original Sins, as these prevent us from
being the state of full grace or being spiritually pure. For the Cubs to
achieve the summit of the American baseball, the World Series Championship, it
must be spiritually pure, free from any hindrance from winning.
Supported by loyal and steadfast prayers of the fans, the
Cubs have worked hard and hard in refining its abilities, fortified with the
winning spirit, for these 108 years, across generations. The supporting fans
and the working players of the Cubs have been united in the same unceasing hope
for winning the World Series Championship. And, this united hope of the players
and fans of the Cubs sure has made God’s grace bear its tangible effect as a
fruit of their faith and hard work. So, the Cubs has won the World Series
Championship on All Souls Day of 2016! And this has fulfilled Harry Caray’s “prophecy”
for the Chicago Cubs’ World Series Championship many years ago.
Having come out of these 108 difficult yet refining years
with the 2016 World Series Championship victory, the Chicago Cubs and its fans give a powerful testimony of enduring
faith and hope, juxtaposing faith in God and faith in the Cubs, hope in God’s
salvific provision and hope in the Cubs’ World Series Championship. Now, both
the loyal fans and the hardworking players of the Cubs make a metaphor for the
souls in Purgatory for their unceasing hope. As the Cubs has come out of these
purgatorial 108 years with the World Series Championship, all souls in their
final purification process will come out of Purgatory with the sainthood bound
for Heaven.
These 108 years were not a curse. Those who have thought so
are not for the Cubs, as those who think that souls in Purgatory are being punished,
given Wisdom 3:1-9, an option for the First Reading for All Souls Day Mass. The
scripture reading sends a message that those who are faithful to God believe
that souls in Purgatory are being made holy to become saints. These are not
punished for their sins in the past, though that is what the faithless fools
may think. To put this scripture message
for All Souls Day for the Chicago Cubs and its loyal fans, these 108 years were
not a curse but a refining period for the Cubs to win the Championship again.
Only those who have no faith in the Cubs think of these years as a curse.
Having come out of the 108-year "purgatory" with the 2016 World Series Championship, the Cubs are no longer "cubbies". Having endured "purgatory", the Cubs have grown much stronger. But, the Cubs are still and always the Cubs as they remain as humble as "cubbies" in spirit.
May God continue to bless the Chicago Cubs and its loyal
fans with His abundant grace for more World Series Championship to win!
Congratulations, Chicago Cubs and fans for the 2016 World Series Championship,
a fruit of your enduring faith, hope, and diligence! Cheers!
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