The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)
I love the feast of All Saints day that we celebrated yesterday. I appreciate having the chance to recognize all of those people who have gone before us, who are our role models and our guides. At the same time I start to feel disheartened, because I can’t help but think that saintliness (what this day celebrates) is out of my grasp.
Then today we celebrate All Soul’s Day - a day in which we remember all souls – even those who may not be saints. While sainthood is our goal, we are human and we fail. Today’s celebration often feels like a bit of a reality check following All Saint’s Day.
Today’s second reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans seems to address this very feeling of inadequacy we may feel towards sainthood. Saint Paul tells us “Hope does not disappoint.” Saint Paul reminds us that we must hope in the Lord and believe in the Lord and hope in his promise of salvation. This is our first step – we must first believe that we can be saints, because of the death and resurrection of Christ.
To drive this point home even more, we hear Christ say in the gospel, “I will not reject anyone who comes to me.” So again, sainthood is within our reach. First we must believe in the Lord, hope in the Lord and then come to the Lord. And coming to the Lord means living a life pleasing to the Lord, conforming our will to His.
So in hindsight it is beautiful to celebrate All Saint’s Day the day before All Soul’s Day because it is showing us what can be ours. Sainthood is within our reach and is very possible, but we must first align our souls to Christ. Amen.
- AJ Grimm