Nov 2 – All Souls Day
Today we celebrate a feast in commemoration of the faithful departed in purgatory, that is, the faithful departed who have not yet been purified and reached Heaven. After Abbot Odilo of Cluny instituted it in the monasteries of his congregation in 998, other religious orders took up the observance, and it was adopted by various dioceses and gradually by the whole Church. The Office of the Dead must be recited by the clergy on this day and Pope Benedict XV granted to all priests the privilege of saying three Masses of requiem: one for the souls in purgatory, one for the intention of the Holy Father, one for the priests.
- Patron Saint Index
Isa 25:6-9
Mt 11:25-30
‘He will destroy Death forever’
Brothers and sisters, today we celebrate All Souls’ Day. While the solemnity of All Saints was instituted in the Middle Ages, it was in the 10th century that a Catholic priest, St. Odell of Cluny instituted All Souls’ Day – a day to pray for the souls of deceased family members: ordinary men and women who have lived out their lives in faith and are waiting in purgatory until they were worthy to enter heaven.
This All Souls’ Day is a different one for me. If you read an earlier reflection of mine (Saturday of Week 26 in Ordinary Time – Our Lady of the Rosary), I shared about the sudden passing of my mother this year. Clearly, despite the blessings of modern medicine, rich and poor, young and old, man and woman, must all confront death in this earthly realm. In fact, Socrates once questioned, “Must not all things at last be swallowed up in death?”
In today’s Gospel reading, Isaiah prophesies that death will not finally swallow up all things. Instead, Death itself will be destroyed for ever. We now know that Christ has triumphed over Death by His own death and resurrection, and that Jesus holds the “keys of death and Hades” (Revelation 1:17b-18). However, death still inflicts pain on us when it comes, especially when it is a death of a beloved family member. How do we take courage in God’s promise that Death does not have the final say in our lives?
We do that by taking courage through our faith in God’s promise of eternal life; that we who love and cherish Him, need have no fear of the death of our body. We must believe that we, like our family members who lived good lives, in the very moment of earthly death, are to be with Christ, basking in His glory, enjoying His love, with the complete knowledge we are finally home.
Indeed, when it came time for my mother to return to God, my sister experienced a strong energy in the hospice room. She felt something very evil by the head of my mother’s bed, but at the same time, saw a figure who she felt was Jesus, enveloped in light at the foot of the bed. She then told my mother to walk towards the light. How beautiful it is to know that in that moment, Jesus was there, protecting my mother – someone who clung on to Him faithfully her whole life – from evil, and leading her to Himself.
With that, let us truly believe in the message that Death itself will be destroyed forever. That while we all will eventually face an earthly death, our death will be like closing our eyes to sleep one moment and opening them the next to God’s gift of eternal life. For our beloved family members who have gone before us and wait in purgatory to making amends for their sins before going to heaven, let us truly pray for their souls today. And let us be reminded and take heart in the bible verse of Romans 6:23 where God revealed His truth: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(Today’s OXYGEN by Stacey Fernandez)
Prayer: Lord, we pray for all the souls of our beloved deceased family members today (especially the soul of Jane, my mother).
Thanksgiving: Jesus, I thank you for destroying Death forever, and your gift to us of eternal life.
OXYGEN 
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