WE AND THE DEAD: THE DEBT OF PRAYER.

November 2, 2021
The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls).

The following are a selection of the readings that may be chosen for this day.

READINGS: Wis 3:1-9; Ps 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6; Rom 6:3-9; Jn6:37-40.

"Just as Jesus died and has risen again, so through Jesus God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep; and as in Adam all die, so also in Christ will all be brought to life." (Cf. 1 Th 4: 14; 1 Cor 15: 22). This Entrance Antiphon gives the true meaning of what we are commemorating today, our love and prayer for those who have gone before us in death and whom we believe, are still in the journey of purification towards the glory of God.

An Akan proverb says: “Death is like a dress that, at some point or another, everyone has to wear.” And an Amerindian proverb adds: “They are not dead who live in the hearts they leave behind.”

In the final article of our Creed, we profess: "I believe in the Resurrection of the dead and life everlasting." We firmly believe that all souls will one day be united to God in his glory. For that reason, Christ came into the world, took up our humanity, suffer as we do, died our human death, and on the third day was raised from the dead. The Resurrection of Christ thus foreshadows our personal resurrection and that of our deceased brothers and sisters.

The Church, after the solemn celebration of All Saints, today commemorates and prays for all who, in the purifying suffering of Purgatory, await the day of their glorification in Heaven. The celebration of this Holy Eucharist, which recalls the supreme sacrifice of Christ on the Altar of the Cross, on the Calvary, has always been the principal means by which the Church invites us to fulfill our duty, our greatest responsibility of unity and charity toward the dead. We affirm through this celebration that death cannot break the bond of Communion that unites us with our brothers and sisters, and makes us one body in communion. We profess here the great mystery of the Body of Christ, the Church where, the Triumphant Church (the Saints) prays and intercede for the Militant and Pilgrim Church (the living), and the Pilgrim Church offers suffrages for the glorification of the Suffering Church (the dead).

The Catechism about the final purification, or Purgatory, says, “All who die in God's grace and friendship but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death, they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire: As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence, we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.” CCC 1030-1031.

Because of our love for them, we owe to our departed brothers and sisters a debt of prayer. So, our prayers, today, are all, petitions that we raise to the Heavenly Father to rise from the dead all his departed servants and give them new strength to walk triumphantly toward his glory. We are not adoring the dead, neither are we celebrating anew the funeral of our loved ones. We rather are commending them to God's merciful love.

All the proposed readings for our today's celebration are songs of hope and demystification of death. They teach us that our God is Lord of life and redeemer of the dead. That the corporal death is not an end in-sé. Life does not end with death. Death is just as a bridge between earth and heaven, between life here below and the life above. And so, for someone to reach this other side of life, he has the obligation of passing via that bridge. There, comes the beautiful expression of St. Therese of the Child Jesus in front of the imminence of her death: "I am not dying, I am entering into life." So, our beloved sisters and brothers have not died, they are journeying toward life. And for the safety of their journey, our prayers are needed.

The reality of human death is not to be feared but rather to be seen as a great lesson for the living to live the present existence here below as a time of preparation for the next stage, the life above. Our actions, decisions, lifestyle, and all we do while living in this body will count and determine our next destination. Therefore, the need to make of life in accordance with the Beatitudes our obligation for today's existence. Like the wise Job, our faith in future existence must be firm and our hope must never waver, no matter what events we may encounter in the present time. God prepares for us a banquet of life. Let us get ready for it by living our daily existence as a divine gift of salvation and new life in Christ.

Let us end our meditation with this firm assurance, "the dead are not dead." They live in another dimension beyond our conception and perception. They live in the metaphysical world while we journey in the physical. And we still can communicate with them through prayers and intercessions, and suffrages.