In the Hand of God
Homily for the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day) The readings are Wisdom 3:1-9, Psalm 116, Revelation 21:1-5a, 6b-7 and Luke 7:11-17.
Today we celebrate the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed – a day commonly known as All Souls Day. It is a day the Church gives us to remind us to pray for those who have died.
The most common prayer we pray is called the “Eternal Rest” (requiem aeternam) prayer:
“Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon them.
May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.”
Christians have been praying for the dead since the time of the Apostles. In fact, there are examples in the Old Testament when Jewish people would pray for the dead. And so it makes perfect sense that eventually this would become a universal practice. About 1000 years ago already, in certain monasteries across Europe, monks had set aside a day to pray for those who had died and it was around the 13th century that the pope decreed that this would be a universal memorial, alongside the Solemnity of All Saints.
On November 1st, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of All Saints. Those are all the souls who are already in Heaven. They don’t need our prayers. We need their prayers. On November 2nd, we commemorate all the faithful departed who are not yet in Heaven. Those are the souls in Purgatory. The Church teaches that they are able to pray for others but they cannot pray for themselves. So they need our prayers. They need our prayers so that they can get to Heaven.
That’s why Purgatory exists. We pray that “eternal rest” be grated to them already in Purgatory. Listen to the first reading today from the Book of Wisdom: “The souls of the righteous (those are the people who’ve been baptized) are in the hand of God.” (Wisdom 3:1) Those are comforting words for all of us who worry about a loved one who has died. They are already in the hand of God. Listen, Purgatory is not a place where we go to wait for someone to decide whether we go “up” or “down”. If you are in Purgatory, you’re on your way up. Purgatory is the ground floor to Heaven. Purgatory is the pre-op or the prep room for Heaven. All the souls in Purgatory are on their way to Heaven. They are just not ready for Heaven yet.
This is because in order to get into Heaven we have to be perfect. We have to be perfectly holy – because Heaven is a state of perfect union with God. And most of us, even though we may be free from mortal sin, because of the consequences of sin, need a little purification before we can enter into Heaven. That’s what Purgatory is for. That’s why we pray for “perpetual light to shine on them”. It’s that perpetual light that purifies us.
Listen to the reading from the Book of Wisdom again: “Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them….like gold in the furnace He tried them.” (Wisdom 3:5-6) That’s the purification of Purgatory. Why? So that we can get to Heaven. So that “like a sacrificial burnt offering God will accept them.” (Wisdom 3:6) So, yes, already in Purgatory, the dead are in the hand of God.
But we don’t want our beloved dead to stay in the perpetual purifying light of Purgatory. We want them to move on to the Perpetual Light of Heaven. That’s why the reading from the Book of Revelation is so beautiful. It is a reminder of what we hope for: Heaven: The new Jerusalem. Where “God will live with his people; where God will wipe away our tears and death will be no more.” (Revelation 21:3-4) That’s why we ask God to grant “eternal rest and perpetual light to shine” on our beloved dead.
And then we pray that “the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace”. That’s why we know we can make it into Heaven; because God is merciful. We don’t get into Heaven because we are good or because we did this or that… we get into Heaven because God is good and merciful and He wants us in Heaven. This is so beautifully portrayed all over the Gospels and we see it in today’s reading from the Gospel of Luke. Jesus is merciful. He sees this widow who has lost her only son and He has mercy on them. He wants life for them and He gives them the gift of life. This is what He wants for all of us; for those in Purgatory and for those of us still here on earth. Jesus wants to give you life. We just have to let Him give you life. Every part of yourself that is dead; let Him touch it and hear Him say, “Arise. Have life.” That’s what the perpetual light does for the souls in Purgatory and that is what Jesus wants to do for you today. Let His merciful perpetual light shine upon you today; as you receive Him in the Eucharist today; Let Him bring you back to life. Jesus is a master at bringing dead things back to life. He is the one who makes all things new. Today He tells us that He is right now, “making all things new” (Revelation 21:5). Believe that He can do it for you today, for us here on earth and also for all the beloved souls in Purgatory.
Today, let us pray for our beloved dead, as we offer this Mass for them; that the Lord will grant them eternal rest and bathe them in perpetual light. That He will keep them in his hand and grant them eternal rest. May we one day join them in the heavenly Jerusalem, where there are no more tears and where death will be no more.
“Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon them.
And may our souls and the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.”
-AMEN.
deacon pedro 