Tag: All Souls

“I shall raise him on the last day.” | The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed

From the responsorial psalm: “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose; beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.”

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 6:37-40)

“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.”

Speaking to the crowds, Jesus reveals the intimate relationship he has with the Father. In receiving anyone who comes to him, Jesus receives everything that the Father gives him, accomplishing his will. Jesus tells those who hear him, “And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day.” Seeing the Son as he does the will of the Father in receiving us, we have the hope of eternal life and the promise of Christ that he will raise all who believe in him on the last day. From the Communion antiphon: “I am the Resurrection and the Life, says the Lord. Whoever believes in me, even though he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will not die for ever.”

Remember, Lord, those who have died and have gone before us marked with the sign of faith, especially those we call to mind today. Let me remember the words of Jesus to the crowds and to all humanity as he does your will: “I will not reject anyone who comes to me.” In these words, teach me to trust in the mercy and care you give to your children—those on earth in this life, those in purgatory who prepare to see you face to face, and those in heaven who have attained the Beatific Vision in your eternal presence. Let us give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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“The will of the one who sent me. . . ” The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John (Jn 6:37-40)

Jesus said to the crowds: “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.”

In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks to the crowd about the will of the Father and what the will of the Father is. Jesus goes on to say it is “that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. 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.” Just as Jesus does the will of the Father, in coming to Jesus we go to the gift the Father has given us in his Son to make his will our own.

Father in heaven, help me learn your will and do my part in accomplishing it. Your Son’s perfect obedience in his life, death, and resurrection brings salvation to all who believe in him. At your right hand, may your Son intercede for all the faithful departed, who lived lives of holiness through obedience to your word. Grant me the grace to recognize all of the good gifts you give me every day, and let me come to you day by day better prepared for your gift of eternal life.

From the Gospel acclamation: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father;
inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)

Jesus said to the crowds: “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.”

In today’s reading for All Souls Day, Jesus describes to the crowds his intention for all who believe in him, following the will of his Father. When we die we face our particular judgment. Saint Paul puts it this way in the second reading: “If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him.” God prepares a place of everlasting life for all who believe in him and who look to him intently in this life. To look to, from the Greek word theōrōn, means “to discern or intensively acknowledge.” In this life, Jesus invites everyone to look upon him every day with a loving gaze, to behold him, the Son of God so that we may have eternal life. After life on earth, Jesus may call us to further purification in purgatory. As Father Burke Masters says, reflecting on All Souls Day, purgatory is a purification, a way to prepare us to see God face to face with all the saints. Jesus said to the crowds, and he says to me, to all: “I will not reject anyone who comes to me.”

God, help me call to mind today the souls who have gone before me to see you face to face, remembering to pray for them and to ask for their intercession: my parents, my family members and friends of the family, those who have died recently, those dead who are unremembered. The souls of the just, Lord, are in your hand. “They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead,” says the reading from the Book of Wisdom, “But they are in peace.” God, give me the grace to use today as an opportunity to be in communion with them; it is to choose to believe in you rather than in the power of death and that your Son will raise us on the last day. I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. I believe, Lord, in the hope of resurrection; help my unbelief.

God, the souls of the just are in your hand; they are yours. Thank you for your perpetual care of them. Because the day will have a way of turning my attention away from you and obscure my ability to see you, I have the peace of trusting in your mercy and love. Set before me today a means of seeing you in the opportunities and people you present to me, despite what the day demands. Thank you, God, for being present always—stay with me!

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

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