Scripture Reflection, November 2: Feast of All Souls

Scripture Readings:
Wisdom 3: 1-9
Psalm 23
Romans 6: 3-9
John 6: 37-40

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Did you ever stand in front of the greeting cards at the store and look through the messages that are found in the sympathy cards? If you do, you find an interesting mix of messages. Many speak of the comfort we receive from the knowledge that a loved one lives on in our hearts. Others communicate a word of consolation by affirming that time heals all wounds. Some speak of the memories that we cherish from the relationship we had with our loved one throughout his or her life.

Those messages are fine as far as they go and for some people they offer solace and consolation. But from a Christian point of view we are inevitably led to ask some deeper questions: What about the condition of that person whom we knew and related to, the one who may have given us life and love, who had a unique history and left a mark upon the world? And what about our relationship with that person? Is that relationship ended?

During a recent visit to the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Lagrange, IL, I found a sympathy card which says something more. On the front of the card is a quote from Saint John Chrysostom, theologian and bishop of Constantinople who died in the early fifth century. Chrysostom wrote these words: “Those whom we love and lose are no longer where they were before. They are now wherever we are.” This quote bespeaks the abiding presence of our deceased loved ones in our lives. In the past few years, I have lost my mother, two of my brothers, and a couple of close friends. The words on that card resonated with my experience since the deaths of these people. I continue to feel a sense of closeness with them, especially when I celebrate the Eucharist.

The Scripture readings for the Feast of All Souls remind us that God is the final end of our lives and that death does not sever the bonds of faith and love that we have forged with others on earth. They reveal that each one of us is made for eternity and for communion. We are “hard-wired” for enduring communion with God and one another. In his letter to the Romans, Paul tells these Christians that through baptism they have entered into the death of Jesus and into the life of the risen Christ. “We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.” In the gospel of John, Jesus speaks about the gracious welcome that he extends to anyone who desires to come to him. He also promises his faithfulness to those who belong to him, assuring us that he will not lose anyone who has come to him but will raise them up on the last day.

Each year on this feast we take time to remember our deceased loved ones in prayer. The tradition of remembering the dead at the celebration of the Eucharist is an ancient custom that dates back to the early Church. In this prayer and sacred memory, we recall some important convictions. We affirm that the bonds of faith and love that we have established with our loved ones are not destroyed by death. These people are present to God and present to us in a different, but very real, way. They are never more present to us than when we gather at the altar to celebrate the Eucharist. On this day we are also reminded that the deceased are helped by our prayers. Just as we believe that prayer for the living is important and effective, we also trust in the efficacy of prayer for those who have died and who may be undergoing purification in their encounter with Christ. We know that even as people of faith who love Christ and want to follow him, there are areas in our lives in which we resist his call and fall short of his desires for us. Through their encounter with the risen Christ, who is the fullness of light and love, the deceased are purified of those things that resist his love. We do not know all that is entailed this mysterious process, but we are convinced that we help one another through our prayers.

There has always been something of a somber quality about All Souls Day. Prayer for the dead seems to have this sobering note to it. It reminds us of our own mortality, that the life of each of us is limited in time and that we need to be ready to meet the Lord. But this day is ultimately about hope. It is about the deep and lasting hope that Christ gives us. We profess what Paul said in his letter to the church at Rome: “If then we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.”

During the past few years, I have come to a deeper sense of the gift of communion with the loved ones I have lost in death. In the Eucharist we are blessed to receive communion with Christ. In this celebration we also experience communion with one another and with those who have gone before us. As we gather this Sunday, let us pray in hope and confidence for one another and for our beloved dead. May each of us not only receive communion but also live in communion with Christ and with one another every day of our lives.

Fr. Robin Ryan, cp