Nov. 2, 2017: All Souls Day
Nov. 2, 2017: All Souls Day
There is a beautiful passage from St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, “None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” (Rom 14:7-8) How many of us are aware that our lives are interdependent on others, even with the ones who departed from us? On this commemoration of the departed souls, we feel sad that they are no longer with us physically. Yet this separation is temporary as one of the prayers in the Rite of Committal reminds us, “Trusting in God, we have prayed together for our loved one and now we come to the last farewell. There is sadness in parting, but we take comfort in the hope that one day we shall see our loved one again and enjoy their friendship. Although we disperse in sorrow, the mercy of God will gather us together again in the joy of his kingdom. Therefore let us console one another in the faith of Jesus Christ.”
We come together today to pray especially for our deceased loved ones and those who have no one to pray for them. We entrust those who have died to the unfathomable Divine Mercy of Our Lord. Whether they have lived an exemplary Christian life or they lived a life far from God, we commend them all to the merciful God whose infinite goodness cannot be measured. Pope Benedict beautifully said, “The belief that love can reach into the afterlife, that reciprocal giving and receiving is possible, in which our affection for one another continues beyond the limits of death — this has been a fundamental conviction of Christianity throughout the ages and it remains a source of comfort today.” God hears our prayer because there is power in our love expressed through prayer. May God bring our loved ones to peace and prepare them to receive the fullness of His Love in heaven.
At this time, let us pause to bring to mind those that we hold dear in our hearts and for whom we now pray...
May choirs of angels lead you into Paradise
and may the martyrs come to welcome you
to bring you home into the Holy City,
so you may dwell in new Jerusalem
May holy angels be there at your welcoming,
with all the saints who go before you there,
that you may know the peace and joy of paradise;
that you may enter into everlasting rest.
