As gold in the furnace, he proved them, and so sacrificial offerings he took them to himself. In the time of their visitation they shall shine, and shall dart about as sparks through stubble...Those who trust in him shall understand truth, and the faithful shall abide with him in love. (Wisdom 3:6-7,9)
Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. (Romans 5:7-8)
For this is the will of my Father,that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day. (John 6:40)
Piety
God, source of wisdom and knowledge, everything that you send to Christ will come to him. Send us forth so we can share in your divine love. When we are finished with this mortal life, welcome into your house all those who departed in death. Like sparks from the fire, they have shot upwards from this mortal life. Grant to them eternal life so that they may stand watch like the stars in the night sky until the day comes when we join you and are granted complete understanding and will abide in your love forever. Amen.
Study
http://www.usccb.org/nab/110206.shtml
Today is “All Souls Day.” The Catholic Encyclopedia reveals that “the theological basis for the feast is the doctrine that the souls which, on departing from the body, are not perfectly cleansed from venial sins, or have not fully atoned for past transgressions, are debarred from the Beatific Vision, and that the faithful on earth can help them by prayers, almsdeeds and especially by the sacrifice of the Mass.”[1]
The readings could fuel the fire of an entire semester of a theology course on the faith and hope of the Church for eternal life with God for the "faithfully departed." We also encounter today some of the fundamentally resounding and sometimes difficult themes of our faith experience.
Christ died for us as sinners. We were not his faithful. He stood before a crowd who yelled, “Crucify him.” Yet he died for them and for us who crucify him every day with our culture and lifestyle. Before he took his last breath, he asked his Father to forgive us for we do not know what we are doing.
John’s Gospel passage for today falls in the middle of a chapter filled with miracles. Jesus has just fed the five thousands with a few loaves of bread and a couple of dried fish. Then he walked across the water of the Sea of Tiberas at night toward the disciples shocking them in their boat. That next day, he delivered his famous and mystical “I am the bread of life” sermon. To that, there were two reactions in the crowd.
Some said, give us this bread that we may eat it always. Others though grumbled and did not understand how they could eat His flesh and drink his blood. The “grumbers” thought he was just the son of Mary and Joseph. Jesus addresses them directly. Does this shock you. Well, if that shocks, you then try this on: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day."
These lessons are hard to understand but central to faith. The hope that ties these difficult lessons together for me is in the reading from the Book of Wisdom. The souls of the just are in the hand of God and the afflictions of life no longer can touch them.
Imagine watching a fire burn – in a fireplace, a bonfire, a grill, a campsite. Life for us is life that fire. It is our test. As you watch the fire, concentrate on the embers that fly off in all directions “darting about as sparks through the stubble.” If we believe in Christ and his mission and message for us, when we do come face-to-face with God, we will not only shine like the stars above us but we also will “understand truth and abide in him in love.”
Action
Visit today with the souls and spirits of those who have departed from your life. Perhaps you are near the cemetery where they are buried and can stop there. If not, then visit them in your heart as you contemplate the impact their life had on yours and how they are standing watch peacefully in heaven awaiting a festive reunion.
[1] http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01315b.htm
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