(THE COMEMORATION OF ALL THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED) ALL SOULS

Wis 3:1-9
Rom 6:3-9
Jn 6:37-4

Yesterday we celebrate the solemnity of all saints; those who are in the presence of God; those who have fulfilled the will of God in this life and now behold the beatitudes in the glory of God in heaven.
Today instead we commemorate the faithful departed especially those who are in purgatory that the light of Christ will purify them and bring their souls to heaven.

Today’s reading from Wisdom gives us two vivid descriptions of our souls, using the analogy of fire as a purifier. Fire is a symbol of the presence of God.

As gold in the furnace, he proved them,
    and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.” (Wisdom 3:6)
The author of Wisdom shows how suffering can purify our souls of any selfishness and immaturity that would keep us from living in communion with God and others. Once a metal like gold is in its melted down state, the dross in the metal rises to the top and is then removed from the metal before it cools. And like our souls, what is left is pure gold that does not destruct.
“In the time of their visitation they shall shine,
    and shall dart about as sparks through stubble.” (Wisdom 3:7)

Using the analogy of purifying fire again, the author of Wisdom likens our souls to “sparks through stubble.” After the harvest of grain or corn, the farmers burn off the stems that are left, and the ashes become fertilizer for the next year. The farmers light the fire in the day and go back after dark to check the fire. Some embers might still be burning; and when the wind blows, those embers become bright sparks in the darkness, darting up from the burnt stubble in the ground. So too our souls, going towards God.

God desires our highest good. At the most vulnerable times in our lives, and especially at the moment of our death, we can rest in God’s love, knowing the “Souls of the just are in the hand of God.,” as we hear in today’s first reading from the Book of Wisdom. And in today’s Gospel reading from John, Jesus confirms that God desires to share eternal life with us.

Blessed is the fact that Christians can rejoice even in the deepest distress; although trouble may surround them, they still sing; and, like many birds, they sing best in their cages. The waves may roll over them, but their souls soon rise to the surface and see the light of God’s countenance; they have a buoyancy about them which keeps their head always above the water, and helps them to sing amid the tempest, “God is with me still” To whom shall the glory be given? Oh! to Jesus—it is all by Jesus

Fr Osho