Homily: Commemoration of the Faithful Departed – Cycle C
Friends, it is truly wonderful that we have the opportunity to celebrate on Sunday this commemoration of the faithful departed–All Souls’ Day. Wonderful because such an important part of our faith is bound up in “remembering”. Think about it: the most important thing we do as Christians is celebrate the Mass, which Our Lord Jesus Christ commanded should be done “in remembrance” of him. This is truly a relational act: to do something in remembrance of someone is to remember–and to honor–the relationship that we had with him/her. Thus, when we celebrate the Mass, we remember and honor our relationship with God.
Today, as we commemorate the faithful departed, we are remembering those faithful women and men who have passed from this world into the next, and we are remembering our relationship with them–that is, that we are all members of Christ’s Body and, even today, share fellowship in the Communion of Saints. This, of course, is something that you in the Hispanic cultures understand quite well: your “Day of the Dead” customs giving witness to the fact that you recognize the importance of remembering, and that this remembering acknowledges and honors the relationship you had with each person who has died. There is a danger, of course, when this custom is separated from Christian faith–it too easily can turn into a form of “ancestor worship”, it seems. Nonetheless, when we remember and honor our relationship to the faithful departed, we also remember and honor who we are: members of a family–both our natural families (existing in specific times and places) and our supernatural family, the Communion of Saints (which transcends time and place).
Today, beyond the affection and devotion towards our departed loved ones that we are called to remember and honor, we are also inspired to hope: that is, to renew and increase our hope for the life that awaits us who remain faithful. Our scriptures today reveal to us both the reasons for our hope as well as directions to help us realize that hope. And so, let’s take a look at what they reveal.
In the first reading from the book of Wisdom in the Old Testament, we read that “the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.” We, as Christians, believe that in baptism we are made “just” as we are cleansed from sin and marked with the sign of faith. Saint Paul, in the second reading, reminds us that through baptism “we were indeed buried with [Christ Jesus] … into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead … we too might live in newness of life.” “For,” as Saint Paul adds later, “a dead person has been absolved from sin.” This is the reason for our hope: that, because we have been made just in baptism, we will be in the hand of God and, therefore, when we die, we will be in peace. Nevertheless, baptism isn’t magic. Rather, it is a sign of conversion. This necessary aspect of conversion is what Jesus speaks of in the Gospel reading today.
In the Gospel, Jesus says that he “will not reject anyone who comes to [him]” and “that everyone who sees [him] and believes in him [will] have eternal life”, for that is the will of his Father. Now, I suspect that it is obvious to most of us here that in order to turn towards something, one must also turn away from something. For example: If I wish to turn towards the altar, I have to turn away from all of you. This is the most basic meaning of the word “conversion”: turning around. Thus, when Jesus says “I will not reject anyone who comes to me”, it is obvious that he is speaking of conversion: for one must “turn around” from whichever direction he or she is heading so as to turn towards Jesus in order to come to him (because I can’t go to the altar if I haven’t turned toward it). Thus, as I’ve said, baptism isn’t magic that makes us ready for heaven regardless of whether or not we make any changes in our lives. Rather, it is a sign of conversion: of a fundamental “turning towards” Jesus and a “turning away” from the world. In other words, conversion comes first and then in baptism we receive the gift of acceptance—that is, the gift of eternal life—that Jesus promises to all those who come to him.
This work of conversion, sealed by baptism, doesn’t end with baptism, however. Rather we must work constantly to keep ourselves turned towards Jesus: for the ruler of this world, that is, Satan, the enemy, is constantly at work in the world trying to convert us away from him. Because of this, just about all of us will find ourselves at the end of our lives having been “less than perfect” in remaining true to our conversion to Jesus. Sure, we’ve turned towards him, but we keep looking back over our shoulder at what we’ve turned away from, which causes us to drift off of the path that leads towards him. These are the venial sins that often clutter our lives and introduce impurities into our souls that had once been purified in baptism.
In this way, our souls, at the end of our lives, look very much like gold ore. When gold ore is unearthed, it is almost unrecognizable as gold. It has been covered in dirt and is full of impurities. Nevertheless, it retains its value. It is still a precious metal, but it is in need of purification. This is kind of like purgatory for the human soul. Gold, in order to be purified, must be put through a harsh process in which it is heated in a furnace to the point of melting in order to separate it from its impurities. This often has to be done two or three times before the gold can be considered “pure”. The human soul, once “buried with [Christ Jesus] through baptism into death” which freed it from sin, but which over time took on impurities because of subsequent venial sins, must too be purified through an intense process of atonement: for only souls which are certified to be “pure” can be admitted into beatitude, that is, perfect communion with God, which is heaven.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, all of us who have converted to Jesus and have been baptized, and who have never turned back from our conversion (without subsequently converting back to Jesus) will pass through purgatory when we die. Some of us will go straight through to heaven: the virtue of our lives keeping our souls largely free from impurities. Most of us, however, will spend some time there, purging those impurities that we allowed to enter our souls by our personal sins.
All of us, however, who have been united in one baptism in Christ, regardless of the state of being in which we find ourselves, are still connected as members of Christ’s body. And so we spend these first two days of November remembering in a special way our continued communion with those who have gone before us: on November 1, those who have passed through purgatory and now enjoy eternal bliss in heaven—that is, the Church Triumphant; and on November 2, those who still suffer in the purifying fires of purgatory, awaiting to join those who have gone before them into heavenly bliss—that is, the Church Suffering.
United in one communion—that is, the Communion of Saints—we support each other. Our prayers, penances, and mortifications on earth help accelerate the purification of the souls in purgatory, while we can call on them to pray for us in our need (which also has the effect of accelerating their purification); and, of course, we both look to the saints in heaven who, having lived as one with us on earth and having seen the painful purification of purgatory, are ever solicitous for us before our heavenly Father. This, in a way, is Jesus—the head of this body—making sure that none of what his Father has given him would be lost.
And so, my brothers and sisters, as we approach this altar today, let us remember so as to draw close to our fellow saints: those here who surround us, our dearly beloved who have gone before us “marked with the sign of faith”, and the triumphant ones already enjoying the fullness of the heavenly banquet, a foretaste of which we receive here when we receive the Body and Blood of Jesus from this altar. And, as we do, let us give thanks to the Father through Jesus for having made us worthy to share the lot of the saints in light.
Given in Spanish at St. Joseph Parish: Rochester, IN - November 2nd, 2025
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