COMMEMORATION
OF ALL THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED
Dear
Brothers and Sisters, Good morning,
Yesterday
we celebrated the Solemnity of All Saints, and today the liturgy invites us to
commemorate the faithful departed. These two recurrences are intimately linked
to each other, just as joy and tears find a synthesis in Jesus Christ, who is
the foundation of our faith and our hope. On the one hand, in fact, the Church,
a pilgrim in history, rejoices through the intercession of the Saints and the
Blessed who support her in the mission of proclaiming the Gospel; on the other,
she, like Jesus, shares the tears of those who suffer separation from loved
ones, and like Him and through Him echoes the thanksgiving to the Father who
has delivered us from the dominion of sin and death.
Yesterday
and today, many have been visiting cemeteries, which, as the word itself
implies, is the “place of rest”, as we wait for the final awakening. It is
lovely to think that it will be Jesus himself to awaken us. Jesus himself
revealed that the death of the body is like a sleep from which He awakens us.
With this faith we pause — even spiritually — at the graves of our loved ones,
of those who loved us and did us good. But today we are called to remember
everyone, even those who no one remembers. We remember the victims of war and
violence; the many “little ones” of the world, crushed by hunger and poverty;
we remember the anonymous who rest in the communal ossuary. We remember our
brothers and sisters killed because they were Christian; and those who
sacrificed their lives to serve others. We especially entrust to the Lord, those
who have left us during the past year.
Church
Tradition has always urged prayer for the deceased, in particular by offering
the Eucharistic Celebration for them: it is the best spiritual help that we can
give to their souls, particularly to those who are the most forsaken. The
foundation of prayer in suffrage lies in the communion of the Mystical Body.
As
the Second Vatican Council repeats, “fully conscious of this communion of the
whole Mystical Body of Jesus Christ, the pilgrim Church from the very first
ages of the Christian religion has cultivated with great piety the memory of
the dead” (Lumen Gentium, n. 50).
Remembering
the dead, caring for their graves and prayers of suffrage, are the testimony of
confident hope, rooted in the certainty that death does not have the last word
on human existence, for man is destined to a life without limits, which has its
roots and its fulfillment in God. Let us raise this prayer to God: “God of
infinite mercy, we entrust to your immense goodness all those who have left
this world for eternity, where you wait for all humanity, redeemed by the
precious blood of Christ your Son, who died as a ransom for our sins. Look not,
O Lord, on our poverty, our suffering, our human weakness, when we appear
before you to be judged for joy or for condemnation. Look upon us with mercy,
born of the tenderness of your heart, and help us to walk in the ways of
complete purification. Let none of your children be lost in the eternal fire,
where there can be no repentance. We entrust to you, O Lord, the souls of our
beloved dead, of those who have died without the comfort of the sacraments, or
who have not had an opportunity to repent, even at the end of their lives. May
none of them be afraid to meet You, after their earthly pilgrimage, but may
they always hope to be welcomed in the embrace of your infinite mercy. May our
Sister, corporal death find us always vigilant in prayer and filled with the
goodness done in the course of our short or long lives. Lord, may no earthly
thing ever separate us from You, but may everyone and everything support us
with a burning desire to rest peacefully and eternally in You. Amen” (Fr
Antonio Rungi, Passionist,Prayer for the Dead).
With
this faith in man’s supreme destiny, we now turn to Our Lady, who suffered the
tragedy of Christ’s death beneath the Cross and took part in the joy of his
Resurrection. May She, the Gate of Heaven, help us to understand more and more
the value of prayer in suffrage for the souls of the dead. They are close to
us! May She support us on our daily pilgrimage on earth and help us to never
lose sight of life’s ultimate goal which is Heaven. And may we go forth with
this hope that never disappoints!
©
Copyright - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Post a Comment