Friday:       All Souls' Day; Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed.
Date:         November 2, 2018.
Year:         B
The readings: [Is. 25:6-9; Rev. 14:13; Lk. 24:13-35]
The message:  Praying for our departed brothers and sisters.
Prepared by:  Catholic Doors Ministry.
Total words:  1250

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Yesterday, we piously celebrated the solemnity of "All Saints" day; today, we are celebrating the "Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed," this feast also known as "All Souls' Day."

Since both of these feasts concern the departed, some of you may ask yourselves, "What is the difference between these two feasts?" On All Saints' Day, we commemorate those who are in Heaven, those who are presently enjoying the beatified vision of God in their eternal glory. The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed is based on the theological basis that some of those who have departed from this world, they have not been perfectly cleansed from venial sin, or have not fully atoned for their past transgression.

As such, being temporary deprived of the beatified vision until such time as they have been completely sanctified in Christ, the departed souls are to remain in Purgatory. To assist these departed souls so that they may be freed from Purgatory, we as faithful brothers and sisters in Christ, can help the Faithful Departed through our prayers, alm deeds and most important of all, through the sacrifice of the Holy Mass.

As members and living stones of the Mystical Body of Christ, we as saints on earth, alongside with the saints in Purgatory and those in Heaven, await the glorious day when our Redeemer shall return on earth, at which time the resurrection of the physical bodies shall take place.

Each is resurrected in his own order. Christ was the first fruit to be raised from the dead. Then at His coming, those who belong to Him. For Christ is the first of many to follow. As death came upon the world through Adam, eternal life comes upon the saints through the Lord Jesus.

Today's First Reading from the Book of Isaiah [Is. 25:6-9] was prophetic in nature. It promised the coming of the Body of Christ. It promised the coming of the establishment of the invisible Kingdom of God in Heaven that is made visible through the Holy Catholic Church that has been instituted on earth through Jesus Christ. Today, we can look back and see the fulfillment of that promise.

Many of the words that we heard during the First Reading were symbolic in nature. In ancient time, the meaning of such words could not have been taken literally because the spiritual knowledge that we now enjoy had not been revealed in those days. For example, it was stated in the first verse, "On the mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well- aged wines strained clear." Looking back, we now know that the Kingdom of God was not established on a mountain, but rather in Heaven. And we now understand that the great Feast of well-aged wines and rich foods is symbolic of the celebration of the Holy Mass.

In the second biblical verse, it was stated, "The Lord God will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever." Indeed, through His glorious Resurrection, the Lord Jesus has swallowed up death forever. In those days, the Lord God possessed only one people, the Jewish nation. There was no blessed hope for the other nations. At the same time, there was a heavenly shroud of secrecy regarding the Lord's intended plan for the Gentiles. As we now know, through Saint Paul, God's plan of salvation through fatherly love and mercy was extended to all the nations of the world, not just the Jewish nation.

In the First Letter to the Corinthians 15:12-26, we read that Christ, through His glorious Resurrection, became the blessed hope of all Christians. If Jesus had not resurrected as we have been told from generation to generation, billions of Christian believers had their faith in a false blessed hope. But this is not the case. The glorious Resurrection of the Lord Jesus was witnessed by over 500 individuals according to the New Testament.

Through Adam, death entered the world; through Christ, death was eternally conquered. Through Adam, individuals lost their glory as "children of God." Through Christ, individuals were provided with the opportunity to be adopted as "children of God" through the new birth, the Sacrament of Baptism. Through the disobedience of Adam, Satan became the prince of the world; through Christ, God was given His rightful place as the eternal King, the King of the world, the King of kings.

When the fullness of time will arrive, on the day when the fullness of the divinely chosen number has been achieved, at the moment when all the saints of the past, present and future have been gathered in Heaven, then Jesus shall hand over His Kingdom to our heavenly Father. At that moment shall be fulfilled the last of the worldly prophecies concerning the end of the world. Then shall come Judgment Day.

Continuing on this subject, in the Gospel of Mark (Mk. 8:27-35) the Word of God reveals a number of facts to us:

1. First,that the people in the days of Jesus were not really sure as to who Jesus was. The beliefs of the many varied greatly, from Jesus being the reincarnation of John the Baptism, or a prophet, possibly Elijah and even the promised Messiah.

2. Secondly, that Jesus prophesied His rejection by His own people, His suffering that would follow, His death and His glorious Resurrection.

3. Third, that when someone opposes God's progressive Divine Plan by setting his mind on human things, or worldly ways, he is speaking as a child of Satan. He is allowing Satan to influence his thoughts, his words and his actions.

4. Finally, that when someone alleges that he wants to follow Jesus, he must deny himself, take his cross and follow the ways of the Lord. Those who seek the worldly life shall lose their eternal life; those who sacrifice the worldly life in order to serve the Lord, he will gain eternal glory in the Kingdom of God.

In order to maintain our status quo as Christians, we must persevere in our living faith with Jesus, through Jesus and by Jesus. We must remain loyal to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. We must obey the teachings of the Church. We must receive the Sacraments of the Church. We must love our brothers and sisters as we love Jesus. In all our thoughts, words and actions, we must shine in humility, obedience and servitude. Through such, it will be witnessed by others that we are truly children of the Lord. In the end, because we have served Jesus, God the Father will honour us.

This week, the Catholic Church commands us to remember the faithful departed. In obedience, we do so, praying that when we have departed from this world, others will remember us, pray for us, make sacrifices on our behalf, and most important of all, have Holy Masses celebrated on our behalf so we may quickly inherit our blessed hope, the eternal beatified vision of God. But for now, let us remember the faithful departed through pious devotions that hopefully will be echoed on our behalf when the time has come. May the grace of God shine on all of you this week.

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The readings...

[The readings were taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible (C) 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the United States of America.]

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First Reading...

"On the mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. The Lord God will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever.

Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the lord has spoken.

It will be said on that day, 'Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation." [Is. 25:6-9]

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Second Reading...

"And I, John, heard a voice from heaven saying, "Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord." "Yes," says the Spirit, they will rest from their labours, for their deeds frollow them." [Rev. 14:13]

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Gospel Reading...

"On the first day of the week, two of the disciples were going to a village called Emmaus, about eleven kilometres from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

And Jesus said to them, 'What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?' They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, 'Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?'

Jesus asked them, 'What things?' They replied, 'The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that Jesus was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see Jesus.'

Then Jesus said to them, 'Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?'

Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures. As they came near the village to which they were going, Jesus walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, 'Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over,' So Jesus went in to stay with them.

When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Jesus; and he vanished from their sight.

The two disciples said to each other, 'Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scripture to us?'

That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. These were saying, 'The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!'

Then the two disciples told what had happened on the road, and how the Lord has been made known to them in the breaking of the bread." [Lk. 24:13-35]