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Reflections
for Sunday, November 2, 2014
Every few years this Solemnity of All Souls falls on a Sunday and takes
precedence over the normal Sunday of Ordinary Time. This year once more we
celebrate the commemoration which prays for all who have died. The
readings can be chosen from a list of various readings but the message of
the Scriptures remains constant: when we die we will be judged and we
ultimately will end up in heaven or hell. This teaching of what we
Catholics call the last four things is deeply important in the whole of our
spiritual tradition.
The Book of Wisdom reminds us that the teaching of the Jewish Scriptures,
our Old Testament, are clear that we are always in the hands of God. We
need to be reminded from time to time that the hands of God are loving
hands. The image is that God created us with His own hands and destined us
to live with Him.
The Letter to the Romans reminds us of the teaching of the New Testament
that Jesus came to save us, to redeem us, to show us the love and
compassion of the Father. The Gospel of John reminds us that we are made
for eternal life and that Jesus will lose no one.
These teachings are important so that we can recognize how to live in this
life. Hell is always a possibility but it is only possible if we reject
love and if we reject life. We may live poorly, made bad decisions, choose
awful things. That is how we humans are. Yet if within all of that we are
seeking God and His love, all shall be well.
So as we pray for all the departed today, we pray with hope and with
confidence in a God who loves us, a God who has sent His only Son to redeem
us, a God who gives us the Holy Spirit deep within us, whispering to us the
desires to seek life and to know the goodness of the Lord.
Readings of the day:
First Reading: Lamentations 3.17-26
Second Reading: 1 Corinthians 15.51-57
Gospel: Matthew 11.25-30
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Reflections are available for the following Sundays:
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