2ND NOVEMBER 2021
Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed
Wis 3,1-9
Psalm 23,1-2.3-4.5-6
1Cor 15,51-57
John 6,37-40
After the celebration of the feast of all saints, the Church invites us to commemorate all the faithful departed. In the First Reading we are reminded that the reward of the just is blessed immortality. This reading shows that God rewards the just or those who are faithful to him. There are certain situations that makes us question the reward of the just, like the suffering of a good man, a good woman who is childless or the death of a young person.
In today's reading, the book of Wisdom deals with the suffering of the good person. He asserts that the suffering of the good person is not a punishment from God, but rather a test of his fidelity to God. Thus, what looks like suffering is really God’s way of recognizing those who belong to him or are worthy of him. In the face of suffering, the just must not shy away from God but rather should keep his/her eyes on the blessed immortality that awaits all the faithful.
As Christians we may face difficult life situations, but we should always look beyond the difficult life situations to what our reward shall be if we remain faithful.
Knowing that suffering is one of the means God uses to test the fidelity of his faithful, may we always persevere to the end.
On this day we commemorate all the faithful departed, we remember all we have known in this life who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith. It is our hope that the way they lived their lives here on earth, will earn them eternal life. That proving their fidelity to the Lord through suffering will be blessed by the Lord with eternal happiness.
For these faithful departed, who may not have experienced the blessed immortality or the beatific vision, we cannot but continue to pray for the purification of their souls. Our constant pleading before God the Father, on their behalf, may turn his eyes of mercy on these poor souls to be worthy of the beatific vision.
As we pray for our faithful departed they will in turn pray for us in the eternal presence of God, that we may endure the sufferings that come our way as Christians.
May we learn to pray for all our faithful departed and also trust that they intercede for us without ceasing before our heavenly Father.
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