COMMEMORATION OF ALL THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED (Nov. 2)

Theme: Remembering our dead: Death is not the end of love

Dearest friends in Christ, yesterday we celebrated the triumph of our brothers and sisters over the troubles and trials of this world. Despite the challenges and hardships they faced in this world, they kept the faith, ran the good race, and received the crown of glory from God. Then, today, the church reminds us of our brothers and sisters who have left us but are yet to reach the heavenly home. They are still held by one problem or the other on their way to heaven. The church reminds us that it is our duty to pray for them, asking the merciful God to cleanse them of all traces of sin and reward them with the beatific vision, where they will be united with the saints.

The day of the commemoration of the faithful departed is a very special day in the church. It is a day that brings before us the reality of a complete church, that is, the awareness of the communion between the church triumphant, the militant church, and the suffering church. The triumphant church is the church in heaven, the church of the saints and angels; the church militant is the church here on earth on its journey to eternity; and the suffering church is the church in purgatory, those who are undergoing the process of purification from the sins they didn’t atone for here on earth. So, this is a day specially dedicated by the militant church to offer prayers to the church triumphant on behalf of the suffering church.

Remembering dead relatives and friends is a natural thing in the world. But for Catholics, the memory of our dead relatives is accompanied with intercessory prayer for them and for all the dead whose faith God alone knows. We are aware that nothing impure will enter heaven (Rev. 21:27) and also that not all sins lead to ‘eternal’ death (1Jn 5:16–17). So, we pray for these dead relatives because we believe that the power and dominion of God extend also to the land of the dead; God is God of the living and the dead; we also believe that God’s mercy is boundless and that He can raise the dry bones and give them life (Ez 37:12). We believe that God will not abandon his faithful among the dead nor allow his beloved to experience decay in the land of the dead (Ps 16:10).

We remember these our brothers and sisters who are in purgatory because of the bond we share with them as members of the Church of Jesus Christ, because our church is a place where there is communion of the living and the dead. Their condition reminds us to keep striving to live holy lives in order not to be held by anything on the way to heaven when we reach the end of our earthly journey.

The dead were our beloved ones. Today, we remind ourselves that death is never the end of love. Death does not bring an end to true love; death never brought an end to the love we shared with them when they were alive. Death is not the end of Divine love either. The love of God is beyond human comprehension. We commend these our dead brothers and sisters into the eternal love of God, praying God that they may be liberated from the pain of the purging fire (1 Cor 3:15) as soon as possible. We pray God, who knows them better, to be merciful in his judgement, for if God should recall our iniquities, no one can stand, but with God there is mercy, and for this we revere Him (Ps 130:3–4).

Dear friends, today we pray for all the dead that God may not abandon them, since we may not tell, for sure, whether or not they have attained peace in heaven. After many years of their departure, we may have overgrown the pain of their loss, but the church reminds us not to forget them eternally. Let the month of November be dedicated to offering special prayers for the departed. Our prayers will help them reach the heavenly home.

Help, Lord, the souls which Thou hast made,

The souls to Thee so dear,

In prison for the debt unpaid,

Of sins committed here.

These holy souls, they suffer on

Resigned in heart and will,

Until The high behest is done,

And justice has its fill.

Eternal repose grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them, may they rest in peace. Amen.

Peace be with you.

Fr. Isaac Chinemerem Chima