Commemoration of All the Faithful
Departed (All Souls)
Isaiah 25: 6-9; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Matthew 5:1-12Seldom is All Souls day, November 2 on a Sunday; when it is we have the special honor to celebrate the feast of people that we knew, who were important to us, whom we loved and who loved us deeply.
One of the great privileges that I have as a priest is to celebrate the funeral liturgies of people who have passed on to the Lord. Many times, I get a chance to talk to the families and to find out more about the person who has passed. Given the chance, I ask two questions: what was special about the person who passed and what will you miss most of all about that person. Tears come, stories are shared, treasured memories come out in the open and there is a celebration of the person’s life. Some comments usually come up: ‘I thought I would die first’…’I’m so glad that the Lord took him/her, they were in so much pain and now their pain has ended’…’what will I do without him/her?’...’she/he was a beautiful person and I’m sure they are with the Lord in heaven’…’they lived life as lovely person.’ So, I say, they were saints…it takes a while to process this, but the response so often is ‘Yes’.
Now the bottom line is that each person is called to be a saint. Not only that, but God gives to each person the grace, the help and the ability to be a saint. Now If I asked everyone who reads this blog and someone in turn asked me the same question, ‘Are you a saint?’ All would respond, as I would, ‘No!’ Yet that is THE WAY that we get to heaven to be with our loved ones who we honored yesterday on the feast of All Saints and today on the feast of All Souls. Do we realize that God sends us these ‘special people’ who touch us, share with us their love, and show us how to love? Do we realize that each of us being loving people we are on the path to heaven? So the question really is how am I doing in being a loving person? Am I learning from the ‘saints’ God has placed in my life? Looking back, if I was the first person to die, and the question was asked of my survivors: ‘What was special…and what will you miss most of all? The responses would reflect the saintly qualities that our loved ones see in each of us. Each person is on a journey. Are we fighting to avoid the ‘way to heaven’; are we waiting to get on the right road at a later time’; are we putting one foot in front of the other and keep going although sometimes we go backwards? Effort is what is needed, not success.
So how would you describe a saint? Next, who are the saints you have known in your own life? How special were they to you and me and how special were we to them? The one commonality is that they are in heaven because they were beautiful people. So who are the saints: people not unlike you and me? They were people who were able to say ‘yes’ a little more often than ‘no’. They showed us love maybe a little more deeply than we show and forgave when they least wanted to and gave without measuring how much they gave. Were they heroic people? Probably a better description was that they were ‘Real people’. Did they have faults and failings, absolutely…did they mess up, yes; did they always get things right, no. But they were able to do special things with an extraordinary amount of love and perseverance. These are ‘our’ heroes who are in heaven…I believe this…and everyone who is in heaven is a saint.
There is a story that is told about how long it takes to get heaven from the eyes of a middle school student. When the topic came up about heaven one question was asked “How long does it take to get to heaven?” One anxious student had an immediate response: “I know…I know…call on me? His answer was: “It takes 5 days to get to heaven!” That certainly was surprising…how come only five days? “Well, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit when He returned to heaven on Ascension Thursday…and ten days later the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost…so it’s simple five days to get to heaven and five days back.” That ended the questions for the class that day.
Looking back: we were conceived, probably no one is certain when that happened. In God’s time we were born and in God’s time we will die. Important are the promises that Jesus gave His followers:
- “I am the resurrection and
the life. Those who believe in Me, even though thy die will live,
and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.” (John
11: 25-26)
- If any want to become my
followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily
and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)
- “Everything that the
Father gives me will come to me and I will not reject anyone who
comes to Me, because I came down from heaven not to do My own will
but the will of the One who sent Me. And this is the will of the
One who sent Me, that I should not lose anything of what He gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of
my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes I Him may
have eternal life, and I shall raise them on the Last day.”
- “Come, you who are blessed
by my Father. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I
was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed Me,
naked and you clothed Me, ill and you cared for Me, in prison and
you visited Me.”…Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of
these least brothers and sisters of mine, you did for Me.”
From Preaching to Adults, Teens and Children: “When a loved one dies, the survivors usually deal with the death by telling stories about them, their lives, and those moments they fondly remember. This sharing of stories gives the friends and relatives permission to laugh and to cry. It is also a way to hold on to the memory, to keep the memory alive, and in a sense, to cling to the reality of the life that was lived. It makes the loved one present again in the community. All Souls Day can be a day for telling stories and sharing memories.”
From Sacred Space 2014:
“At that time Jesus said, “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
“Jesus offers us a lifeline: ‘Come to me,’ He says. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? And yet we find it difficult to believe that reaching out to Him can make a difference.
Lord, You invite us to take Your hand and walk with You through this ‘valley of tears.’ But how stubborn we can be sometimes! Help us be open to Your whispered invitation and respond with faith and generosity.”
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