Today's Catholic readings for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day) proclaim that the souls of the just are in God's hand and Jesus will raise them on the last day—they're not lost, they're ahead of us on the path.
The souls of the just are in the hand of God. No torment shall touch them. They seemed in the eyes of the foolish to be dead, their passing away thought an affliction, but they are in peace. Though they were punished a little, they will be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself.
All Souls Day addresses what we fear most. Death. Loss. The people we loved who are gone. We call them the faithful departed, and today we pray for them. Not because they're lost. Because they're in the hand of God. The foolish think they're dead. The wise know they're at peace.
Jesus says everyone the Father gives him will come to him, and whoever comes he will not reject. This is the will of the one who sent him: that he should not lose anything of what he gave him but raise it on the last day. Four times Jesus says he'll raise them on the last day. Not maybe. Not possibly. He will raise them. The Father gave them to Jesus. Jesus won't lose them. He'll raise them on the last day. Your loved one who died in faith? Jesus won't lose them.
Paul explains that we were baptized into Christ's death. We were buried with him through baptism into death so that just as Christ was raised from the dead, we too might live in newness of life. If we've grown into union with him through a death like his, we'll be united with him in the resurrection. Death no longer has power over Christ. And if you're baptized into Christ, death no longer has ultimate power over you.
The psalm walks through the valley of the shadow of death. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me. The valley of death's shadow is real. We all walk through it. But the shepherd is present. You are with me. The shepherd doesn't remove the valley. He walks through it with us.
The reflection explores why the souls of the just are in God's hand not lost, what it means that Jesus promises four times to raise them on the last day, how baptism trains us for death by rehearsing going down into death and rising in resurrection, why the valley of death is something we walk through not get stuck in, and how prayer connects us across the valley to the faithful departed. You'll discover that All Souls Day isn't about despair but about hope in the resurrection.
This video challenges you to examine where fear of death controls you more than trust in God's hand, how knowing you were baptized into Christ's death changes how you view death, where you live like the foolish who think death is the end rather than trusting the shepherd through the valley, and what would change if you truly believed Jesus won't lose them but will raise them on the last day.
📖 Readings
Wisdom 3:1-9
Psalm 23
Romans 6:3-9
John 6: 37-40
⏱️ Timeline
00:00 Introduction
00:15 Reading I - Wisdom 3:1-9
01:10 Psalm Response - Psalm 23
06:04 Reading II - Romans 6:3-9
06:55 Gospel - John 6: 37-40
07:31 Reflection
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