2 November 2025 - homily for All Souls Day - Wisdom 3:1-9, Romans 6:3-9

This weekend we celebrate All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. These two commemorations begin the month of November, the month of remembrance in our Catholic faith. All Saints’ Day is a solemn holy day of our Catholic faith celebrated annually on November 1. It is a day dedicated to all the deceased faithful who have ended their lives here on earth and who have entered heaven, including the saints who are recognized by the church and those who are not. 

Today, we celebrate All Souls’ Day, a significant day in our Catholic tradition. It is a time for us Catholics to remember and pray for our deceased loved ones and family members, as well as for all the faithful departed, including those those souls in purgatory. We Catholics believe that death is not an ultimate separation, as we remain united with our departed loved ones in the communion of saints in heaven. The theological basis for All Souls' Day lies in the belief that some souls, after death, may require a process of purification from their sins in purgatory before they attain the full joy of heaven. Today, on All Souls’ Day, we pray for the souls in purgatory, emphasizing the interconnectedness of the Church triumphant in heaven, the Church militant on earth, and the Church suffering in purgatory. All Souls' Day emphasizes the importance of prayers, Masses, and sacrifices that we can offer for those souls who have ended their journeys here on earth. The Church believes that these acts of charity and prayer help the souls in purgatory on their journey towards eternal bliss. This tradition has historical roots, with evidence of commemorations and sacrifices for the deceased dating back to the early Christian era.

All Souls’ Day reminds us of a distinctive and important Catholic practice, of praying for the dead. We Catholics believe that our prayers really do affect the souls of the dead, helping them in the process of purification in purgatory. One passage from Scripture cited in support of this is in the Old Testament in the second book of Maccabees, in which the Old Testament Priest and general, Judas Maccabeus, “made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.” One powerful way to alleviate the burden of souls in purgatory is the offering of the holy sacrifice of the Mass. Many Catholics have Masses said for their deceased ancestors at their local parish. The benefits of almsgiving, fasting, and indulgences can also be applied to the dead, as can any other prayer, such as the praying of the rosary. Indeed, one beautiful Catholic prayer tradition for a deceased loved one is the praying of the rosary before a funeral Mass or at a funeral vigil prayer service. We can offer this prayer for our deceased loved ones as well as we pray the rosary in our daily lives. The act of remembering our loved ones in our prayers and the offering of Mass is a way of honoring them and respecting them as well. 

Our readings on All Souls Day remind us that God’s grace touches our lives in different ways. The Book of Wisdom was written in the first century before Christ’s birth. Our reading today from Wisdom reflects the belief in the afterlife that was developing in the Jewish community of that era. Many people of that day thought that an earthly death meant the end point for that person. Yet, the author of Wisdom states that these souls are still alive in the eternal life that they have in God. They are in the hands of God, where he will take care of them. In the trials and sufferings they went through in their lives on earth, these souls were proved worthy by God’s grace of immortality in the next life with God. In the letter to the Romans, St Paul reaffirms this by asserting that our baptism in Christ unifies us and makes us one in his Body and Blood, making us into new beings who are free from sin, rising to holiness in life. Reflecting the thoughts of the author of Wisdom, St Paul sees the grace of God working in us, bringing us to a newness of life that will live forever, to the immortal destiny we have in Christ. United with the community of saints that we celebrated yesterday on All Saints Day, we pray for the faithful departed today, especially for the souls in purgatory, as we are one with them in our common faith. 

19 November 2019 — Mass of Remembrance — Wisdom 3:1-9, Psalm 23, Romans 6:3-9

      “The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.”  This is the opening line from our reading from the book of Wisdom today as we remember the faithful departed during our annual mass of remembrance this evening.  We had this same reading on All Souls Day, on November 2nd, as we prayed for all of those souls who have departed this world and who are going through a purification process to ready them for unification with God in their state of eternal life. It is also customary for Christians to use All Souls Day to offer prayers for all of their departed relatives and loved ones.  Today, in our mass of remembrance here at St Jude, we remember those faithful departed who have died in our parish families throughout this past year.  

     It is so difficult saying goodbye to a loved one when they depart this world, but,  in many ways,  our prayers for our deceased loved ones connect us to them.  Through these prayers, we show our love and reverence for them, keeping them alive to us in their role in the Community of Saints that exists in the Church.  Indeed, if we truly believe the words of the 23rd psalm that is so beloved to so many Christian believers, we see Jesus as the Good Shepherd leading our dearly departed loved ones to the refreshing waters of eternal life after their journey here on earth has ended.

         Praying for the dead has always been a part of our Christian traditions since the days of the early Church.  Indeed, we can find prayers for the dead inscribed in the catacombs outside of Rome.  Early Christians believed that their prayers would provide assistance and encouragement to the souls of their departed loved ones who were undergoing a process of purification in the afterlife.

         Our second reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans addresses our baptismal promise – how we die with Christ in the waters of our baptism and then rise to new life in him in those same waters.  Paul explains that if we are united with Christ in his resurrection in the waters of baptism, then when our days here on earth come to an end, we will be united with him in the resurrection in eternal life.  This confirms our belief that Christ who was raised from the dead indeed lives and dies no more. 

         So while we miss the presence of our loved ones here on earth, we take heart that they are with Christ in eternal life, that their prayers and intercessions accompany us, just as our prayers and intercessions go out for them today in a special way during today’s mass of remembrance.  We lift them up to Christ, who is the life and the resurrection.