The Feast of All Souls

Today we celebrate the feast of All Souls--those women and men who have returned to their eternal home before us. For many of us, that means that we have said good-bye to our grandparents, parents, some of our siblings, Aunts and Uncles, some of our cousins, nieces, nephews and grandnieces and grandnephews. All have been "brought to life" in Christ Jesus, we are told in the entrance antiphon of today's liturgy.  The first reading, Wisdom 3:1-9, reminds us that the "souls of the just [our loved ones] are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.....[T]hey are in peace.....[C]hastised a little, they... [are] greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself. As gold in the furnace, he proved them, and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself. In the time of their visitation they shall shine, and shall dart about as sparks through stubble;... the Lord...[is] their King forever."

We do not know the day nor the hour that you and I will be born into eternal life nor do we know the circumstances of our death. God knows! And God will be at our side when we die. God will come to us at that moment and be the light in the darkness of our death. God will take us by the hand and guide us through death's door into eternity, saying to us:  "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Mt. 25:34)! 

At Home with the Lord, Clothed in Righteousness

Today's first reading, Ezekiel 36: 23-28, the Lord says the following to the nation of Israel, and to us: "I will prove my holiness of my great name, profaned among the nations, in whose midst you  have profaned it.  Thus the nations [the world] shall know that I am the Lord God, when in [its] sight I prove my holiness through you. For I will take you away from among the nations [that are profaning my name], gather you from all the foreign lands [places in this world and peoples in this world who are profaning the name of God by evil actions against others], and bring you back to your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols will I cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you...."

On the cross and through the cross, Jesus clothes us in righteousness and puts a robe of salvation on  us.  We have been brought back to God, gathered from "foreign lands" by Jesus' obedience unto death,  His resurrection on Easter morning and His return to glory on the day of His Ascension into heaven!  In our baptism we have been sprinkled with "clean water" and cleansed "from all [our] impurities."  "A new heart and...a new spirit"--the Spirit of Jesus--has been put within us, our stony hearts turning into hearts of flesh!

In today's responsorial psalm, we pray:  "A clean heart create for me, O God, and a steadfast spirit renew within me.  Cast me not out of your presence,and your Holy Spirit take not from me. Give me back the joy of your salvation, and a willing spirit sustain in me...."

May we sincerely desire those graces and return to the Lord, to our true home, we have strayed off into "foreign lands."

The Feast of All Souls

Today we celebrate the Feast of All Souls, that is, we remember all of those who have gone before us, all who have fallen asleep in the Lord and who, in Christ Jesus, will be brought back to life in eternity.  All of the just are in God’s hands, the author of Wisdom tells us in chapter 3: 1-9.  We certainly grieved their passing and may even have thought that their deaths were a tragedy or absolute foolishness.  Some believe that their loved ones are dead, period!  And that nothing exist after our deaths.   But, no, there is life after death. Jesus died and rose. In our baptism, we died and rose with Christ. Our final resurrection will happen at the end of our lives, as it did for Jesus.  

You and I walk this earth, undergoing a chastisement, a purification, as we grow in intimacy with the Lord.  At the appropriate time, God’s time, we will leave our earthly life for a heavenly one, having been “found worthy” of God, Wisdom tells us. “As gold in the furnace, [God proves us], and, [in death] as sacrificial offerings [God takes us] to himself. In the time of [our] visitation we] shall shine, and shall dart about as sparks through stubble…and the Lord shall be [our] King forever....[The] faithful shall abide with [God] in love: because grace ad mercy are with his holy ones, and his care is with his elect.”  You and I, through our baptism, are God chosen ones, God’s elect. Death will have no more power over us than it had over Jesus.  St. Paul says to us in Roman s 6: 3-9:  “Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.  For we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.”    Yes! With Jesus, we shall overcome death and, like Jesus, rise to new life in our own resurrection!

I believe! How about you?