GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 2ND NOVEMBER 2016
ALL SOULS
1ST READING: Wisdom 3:1-9
PSALM: Psalm 23:1-6
2ND READING: Romans 5:5-11 OR Romans 6:3-9
GOSPEL: John 6:37-40
THEME: WE REMEMBER
Different cultures have different ways of remembering their dead. An Indonesian Community, Toraja, from the mountains of South Sulawesi, as part of the Ma’nene festival, would dig up their dead relatives, dress them in new clothes and parade them around the village. Among some ethnic groups in Ghana, families would leave food in the open for deceased relatives. In many cultures in Europe, flowers are placed on the grave of loved ones as a way of remembering them.
The Church also has its own particular tradition and a way of remembering the dead. The celebration of “All Souls” affords us the opportunity to remember our dead by praying for them. Just as Martha prayed for his dead brother Lazarus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died, but even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him” (Jn 11:21-22), so also do we pray for our brothers and sisters who have died in Christ.
In our Gospel text, we hear Jesus saying, “This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day” (Jn 6:40). This statement of Jesus gives us hope in the resurrection from the dead and as Paul writes, “hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Rom 5:5).
The celebration of “All Souls” reminds us that life does not end in death, in the biological sense of the word. The author of the Book of Wisdom writes, “The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be a disaster, and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace” (Wis 3:1-3).
Today, the Church invites us to accompany our loved ones with our prayers not only when they are sick but more so when they die. Keeping in mind that “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God” (Mt. 5:8), we pray that the Lord may purge them of any wrongdoing so that they too can behold his glorious face.
As we remember and pray for those who have gone ahead of us, it is important that we also reflect on our own imminent death. There is a date set for each one of us to go through the human experience of dying. The question is: how prepared are you to meet your God?
Prayer: Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine on them. May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen
Andrews Obeng, svd
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)
“May the darkness of sin and the night of unbelief vanish before the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. And may the heart of Jesus live in the hearts of all people” (St. Arnold Janssen).