31st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed: “I Will Reject No One Who Comes to Me” (John 6:37)
One of the beautiful aspects of the Catholic Church is the way our history is kept alive in the prayers of the community. The Memorial of All Souls is part of this history and remains a living reality in our Church.
The commemoration dates back to the eleventh century, when St. Odilo of Cluny decreed that the monks of Cluny Abbey were to spend a day in prayer for the dearly departed. Shortly afterward, the universal Church began to celebrate this day of prayer for all the faithful who had died but were not formally recognized as saints.
In the fourteenth century, the memorial was moved to November 2 to connect it with the Feast of All Saints on November 1. The idea is that just as the saints share fully in the holiness of God in heaven, the souls of the faithful departed—who are not yet in heaven—are also holy, though to a lesser degree, as they prepare to enter into God’s presence.
Dante Alighieri, in the second book of The Divine Comedy, The Purgatorio, presents the souls in purgatory as holding themselves back from ascending the mountain of God until they are ready to embrace the fullness of His love. The prayers of their loved ones still on earth help open them to that love.
That is the history—now the living reality.
One of our greatest fears is the fear of rejection—not just the fear of being rejected by society or community, but a much deeper fear: the fear of being rejected by God. To some extent, we all experience this. We are painfully aware of our human limitations and personal sins. Because of that, when our physical lives come to an end, we fear that God may reject us. We not only fear this possibility—we even understand His reasons for doing so.
The truth is, we forget that God’s love and compassion are infinitely greater than ours. Jesus says in the Gospel of John, “I will not reject anyone who comes to me” (John 6:37). God’s mercy and compassion are far greater than anything we can comprehend.
God loves us too much to reject us when we come to Him. Perhaps we are not yet ready to endure the full radiance of His love, as Dante so beautifully portrayed in The Purgatorio. We might need purgatory to cleanse ourselves from the effects of our sins—those areas where we have resisted growing in love. But the Lord does not reject those who turn to Him.
The power of prayer is far greater—infinitely greater—than we can imagine. When we pray, we call upon the strength of the Almighty to perform what is beyond our ability but never beyond His. Today, we pray that the Lord will heal the wounds caused by the sins of all who are not yet ready to enter into the fullness of His presence. That is what we do when we pray for the souls in purgatory. May they be healed. May every part of their lives that has been closed to Love be fully opened to the presence of God.
That is why we pray for our deceased parents, spouses, children, relatives, and friends. We know they were good people, but we also know they were human. We want them to be capable of receiving the full brilliance of God’s love, so we pray for them. We celebrate funeral Masses—the prayer of Jesus on the Cross—for the deceased. We have additional Masses offered for our loved ones throughout the year. We remember them in our daily prayers, especially today on All Souls Day and throughout the month of November.
We are all united in the Communion of the Church. We are united with the saints in their triumph, with the souls in purgatory in their preparation for glory, and with one another in our efforts to make Christ present in the world.
“I will reject no one who comes to me.” (John 6:37)
We trust in the God who loves us to care for us and for our loved ones—in life and in death. And so we pray:
“May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.”
Amen.