The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed

Today's Scripture

Yesterday we celebrated the feast of All Saints’ Day, which recognizes all those unnamed saints in addition to all of the better known saints. Today we celebrate All Souls’ Day, and both of these feasts communicate something that is quite counter-cultural, namely that death is not the end of life. In the United States, we have developed quite a fear of death, and not without reason. Easily preventable deaths (a kid getting hit by a car) or unjust deaths (abortion) ought certainly to be prevented or avoided. 

But on the other hand, we are gravely mistaken if we think that life is primarily about prolonging our lives and avoiding death. There is a huge market geared toward youth; so many things profess to be able to make us young again or to help us stay young. Not only is this impossible, it is also unchristian, for all of our lives are a journey or a pilgrimage toward the eternal life that begins at death. For Christians, death is not the end, nor is it the worst thing that can happen to us.

The beautiful first reading from Wisdom speaks to this: “They seemed in the view of the foolish to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction, and their going forth from us utter destruction. But they are in peace” (Wis 3:2-3). It is a message of vindication; no matter earthly sufferings, God saves those who trust in Him.

This message is perhaps spoken even more eloquently in the person of Jesus Christ, God’s own self-revelation to us. We hear a great reflection on this in the reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans. Jesus took on human flesh and lived a human life, enduring all human sufferings, including that great humiliation and pain of suffering and death by crucifixion. Jesus’ death did not look like a victory, but rather a defeat. It did not look like a testament to strength, but an example of weakness. And yet, Jesus’ death was transformative because it did not simply end in death. 

No, Jesus’ death ended instead in the resurrection. God defeated death once and for all in the resurrection. And through this death and resurrection, God offers eternal life to all who believe in Him. Today we traditionally think of all of our loved ones who have died, and we pray for the repose of their souls. We pray that, in the end, God found them to have been willing cooperators with his grace and welcomed them into heaven. We pray also for those who are in purgatory so that we can support them with our prayers for their purification. We remember the lives of those who were human in all their weaknesses, sins, and failings. But rather than despairing over their deaths, we celebrate the Mass today as a testament to our hope in the great mercy of God. We know that death is not the final answer.

Today, take some time to reflect on your loved ones who have died. Pray that their souls may rest in peace. And let us also pray for our own happy deaths. May death be welcome to us as the beginning of eternal rest in God.

- Maria Morrow