Found Worthy

November 2, 2007

The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)

The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. Wisdom 3:1

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

Loving and forgiving God, remember those who have gone before us. Welcome them into your mansion and bless them with your holy hospitality. We ask that you also find us worthy to stand in your presence and serve you. Amen.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/110207.shtml

Yesterday, we celebrated a feast day for All Saints. Today is the solemn occasion for everyone else gathered on the cloud of witnesses. Each of us has a special person who first comes to mind…a parent or child, a grandparent or friend, a sibling or cousin on this solemn feast day.

A special Latin American tradition offers a litany to the souls of all who have passed away yet whose spirit and memory remain active in our hearts and souls.

In some Latin American movements, when a leader dies, the survivors chant “presente, presente, presente.” It's a little thing, like saying “present” or “here” when the roll is called in school. But it means that the leader's spirit is still present among them. It's an injunction to make ourselves worthy of our predecessors--to make our lives amount to as much as theirs did.

The term “¡Presente!” means “here” or “present” in Spanish. As we remember those who suffered and died before us, in some celebrations and rituals throughout Latin America a litany of the names of the deceased are read. A prayer leader announces the names and brings their spirits and witness before us as the people gathered respond: “¡Presente!” You are here with us, you are not forgotten and your death was not in vain.

At the wedding celebration of Catholic Workers Art Laffin and Colleen McCarthy, I first experienced this ritual prayer in its amazing and powerful form. Through it, we realize that not only do we have human life in common with Jesus, but he also shares the death of the body with us and those famous and anonymous souls who have walked before us.

Just as the disciples were sad after Jesus was executed, St. Augustine reminds us that it is alright for us to be sad when people we love die. “In the death of those who are close to us, we experience the sadness at the necessity of losing them, and hope of getting them back. By the former we are distressed, by the later consoled. In the one our weakness touches us, in the other faith restores us. In our loss the human condition mourns, but through hope the divine promise heals.”

Our cultural rituals and traditions provide some help for the living to cope with the person who has departed. However, funeral homes, internment, processions, and expensive headstones are of “no help to the dead” according to St. Augustine. But rather, they need our prayers just like we need the prayers of the saints.

Prayers are our way to continue to provide “palanca” (support) for all those who have gone before us marked with the signs of faith. “[P]eople whose love for their dead is spiritual as well as physical should pay much greater attention to those things – sacrifices, prayers, almsgiving – which can assist those who though their bodies may be dead are still alive in the spirit.”

Action

Contact someone today who needs to hear a cheerful voice. Be present to them in their loneliness.