The Souls of the Faithful Departed ...

This year, All Souls’ Day hits a little differently.

Standing at the foot of my in-law’s gravesites, the reality of the day was unavoidable. 

Coming face-to-face with mortality in the death of both of my husband’s parents in the last six months in addition to my own health issues and those in my family, the brevity and sanctity of life has been on my mind for a while.

Today, we remember the faithful departed – entrusting them to God’s mercy. 

As my family stood looking at my father-in-law’s grass-covered plot and my mother-in-law’s freshly dug grave … joined together under the same earth, I thought about that very thin veil between this life and the next. 

Yesterday, our priest challenged us on All Saints’ Day to remember that common people can and do become saints. It is our goal in life to become saints – to live our vocation as asked of us and to continuously strip away the things that prevent us from growing in our relationship with Christ. 

I took a walk around the cemetery, stumbling across names I recognized, looking at dates on tombstones and saying a prayer for those I stopped before. The quiet stillness of the cemetery drew me toward peace, but it was God’s hand that made me contemplate the beauty of this life – despite the struggles, despite the pain. In the Midwest, the leaves are vibrant and colorful – seemingly full of life. They had neatly covered the cold ground – nearly masking the reality of death by coloring the cemetery with all the beauty of their radiant tints. But their warm autumn hues belied a secret. 

Those leaves are already dead – separated from their life source.

So it is with us. We long to be united with God  … we are on a similar journey as those leaves. Their existence – the lavish colors and vibrant presence – will be short-lived. So, too, our lives, when placed next to the eternal also are short-lived.

The Catholic church does not shy away from death. We know that death is not the end. But we also know that we must be purified before entering heaven – purgatory could be a real step in our journey.  So, while our goal is to align our hearts to God’s will and continuously rid ourselves of bad habits and the things that separate us from God, we also are called to help each other reach heaven as well! Today, we are reminded to pray for those who have gone before us

Today, we pray for those in purgatory – in particular, we pray for those who have no one to pray for them. It is a little thing for us, but an enormous gift to others. Take a walk through a cemetery. Stop by a headstone -- pick anyone to pray for. What a gift we have in the communion of saints!

Let us pray that for all the faithful departed...

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.