The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)

Today's Mass Readings

I was talking to Kevin, our organist yesterday and he told me about his experience at this engineering company. It seems to him all that the owners of the company want is money. They do not have the patience for to wait for a product to reach from the design stage to the production stage. They want the product “now.” Not only that, their firing policy is the strangest I have come across. A lady comes up to call the person, talk to them as she walks them up to the door and says goodbye. Some of the employees have not even received their wages for the days they have worked. Recently, Kevin said, a seventy-three year coworker killed himself after he had had a stroke. The only thing the company was worried about was liability. The only motivation for the owners of this company is money. You may find it strange why I begin my homily for the commemoration of the faithful departed with this story. Because, I see in this story all the themes of today’s readings – except that the readings also give us the reason for hope. As we remember all the faithful departed, let us look to today’s readings for hope. In the first reading from the book of Wisdom, there is a contrast drawn between the wise judgment of the just and the foolish judgment of the wicked. The wicked, the book of Wisdom says, refuse to acknowledge life after death (Wis 3:2). By doing so there are doing two things: they reject God and they reject the need to live righteous lives. Their logic is very simple – if there is no afterlife there must not be a God and if there is no God, then there is no demand to live a virtuous life in the here and now. How else can we justify the kind of actions that I talked about in the introduction?

The wise, on the other hand, understand the truth. They live because of the grace and mercy of God. They abide in the love of God (Wis 3:8). Paul in his letter to the Romans tells us about the love of God which has been “poured” into our heart (Rom 5:5). Yes, God love has not been stingily given drop by drop but generously “poured” into our hearts. “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). It is because of this love that Jesus says in today’s gospel reading, “I will not reject anyone who come to me” (Jn 6:37). It is because of this love that Jesus says, “I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day” (Jn 6:39).

Today, as we remember our faithful departed, we remember many things: first, we remember those departed who have tried to live just and truthful lives. We remember them who loved God and perhaps even suffered for it. Second, we remember the love of God that invites them into eternal peace. Jesus will not reject anyone who comes to him and this love is our hope. God’s grace, mercy, and love combines with their faith in God, their striving for the good, their love for virtue, their hope in eternity and gives give us the consolation we need. And third, we remember those who in our memory failed to live up to God’s calling. We remember that while God is just, God is also merciful. We pray that God have mercy on all those we loved and we are afraid that they did not live virtuous lives.

What does this feast mean for us today? Let me offer three points to think about as practical implicatons for today.

a) The eternity is an invitation to live our present life in God’s presence. Today’s commemoration is not merely about the past… those who are gone before us. Today’s celebration is not only about the future… the glory that awaits all who believe in God. This commemoration is an invitation to live our present in God’s presence. It is an invitation to live virtuous, truthful and just lives in the here and now. If we do there we do not have to be afraid of death. Such lives, Wisdom tells us, is in God’s hands. God will bring us into God’s own eternal self.

b) I am going to suggest something really strange. Each of knows that one day we will die. But none of us know how that will happen or when. How do we know how we will face our death? One good way to know that is to see how we face the small deaths of our lives. I remember when my doctoral defense was postponed. When I look back at how I faced it I can easily see how I could have faced it with more faith. Honestly, he way I faced my little death is not how I want to face my real death. Each of us faces many little deaths. It could be a broken relationship, or the loss of employment, or the death of a loved one… how did I face these little deaths? These little deaths could be a preparation for our real death.

c) Surely, behind today’s commemoration of the faithful departed is the overwhelming love of God. Today’s second reading tells us of a God who loves us beyond our sin and our weaknesses. After all Christ died for us while we were still sinners. That gives us the confidence to surrender even people who we know did not live good lives into God’s hands. Think about the man in the introduction who took his own life. Can the love of God save this man? I would like to believe so because the love of God has not limits. Let us, then, with much confidence find our comfort and our consolation in the love of God. In the final analysis, that is our only hope.

Even though this Eucharist is in commemoration of the faithful departed, it is a celebration of life. The God who died for us while we were still sinner, the God who loves us beyond death, the God who does not reject anyone who comes to him will be with us in a few moments. This is the God who will carry us from death to eternal life. Amen.

- Fr. Satish Joseph