Till Death

November 2, 2025 – The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed

Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110225.cfm)

On  a burial ceremony, someone once  asked me : “Father, what happens to us when we die?”  After some thoughts, I answered, “I don’t know, I really have no idea. But all I know is that when I die, families, friends & acquaintances would come, gather & pray for me. Just like now, they would remember & talk about memories & encounters with me.

Surely they would joke about our journeys together & say their goodbyes, but also they cherish how we love each other. Somehow in death, I will not be with them anymore, but still I am one of them in their faith-life journey. For us faithful, in death Life is  not ended, but has changed. Gone yet not forgotten.”

When someone we love dies, we go through a whole range of emotions and conditions. However strong our faith might be, in our mourning & grief, we still wonder & ask questions, like: “How & where are they who have gone before us now? Without them, how are we going to cope & what else life got left to offer us now? How come others could not understand what we are going through?”

Along with such questions we cannot escape but be thrown into the mystery of what life and death are all about, wondering: “Is there a life after death?” And even, asked: “Is there life before death?” We can even wonder about the existence of God, let alone a loving merciful God. Everything is hanging up in the air.

All Souls Day or the commemoration of all departed souls today is celebrated to pray for all those who have gone before us to commend them all to God and to proclaim the nature of the Church. Like the communion of saints and the church here on earth, they are part of the church. We are separated now from them but not disconnected with them.

So while today’s solemnity does not take away all our pains and solve all our questions and problems, it is a strong reminder of the truth of our connectedness, as followers of Christ on journey of faith & life.

This connectedness happens, precisely and above all, through prayer. We pray for our faithful departed every day at Mass and in public and personal prayer. In charity today we pray especially for those who have no one to pray for them.

We pray for those who have died, that their sins, faults & failures may be forgiven and that they might be on the way to the Lord. Our loved ones are not lost with us, and we can and do help them here on earth in & by our prayers.

Today we are not burying our beloved dead but remembering them in this mass. Remembering them in prayers is our letting go of them – without losing them but  remembering them so that they become part of our lives in & thru the Spirit of Jesus Christ, whom we always believe as the Resurrection & the Life who lives and reigns forever & ever.

So May It Be. Amen