Why the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed?

There are several certainties in our life as human beings. One such certainty is the reality of our eventual death. This experience of dying embraces family members, friends, and eventually ourselves.  In the cycle of life, both birth and death are part of the natural order.  As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) states, “Death is the end of earthly life. Our lives are measured by time, in the course of which we change, grow old and, as with all living beings on earth, death seems like the normal end of life. That aspect of death lends urgency to our lives: remembering our mortality helps us realize that we have only a limited time in which to bring our lives to fulfillment.” (CCC, 1007.) 

The “urgency” that this “limited time” for living presents, can make us aware each day of the importance of family relationships and friendships, the pursuit of meaningful work, the necessity of outreach to others and the primacy of our spiritual life of faith. As Christians, our future mortality should inspire us to live in the anticipation of being eternally with God.  

In his book, The Spirituality of the Psalms, Walter Brueggemann says, “the Book of Psalms provides the most reliable theological, pastoral, and liturgical resource given us in the biblical tradition. In season and out of season, generation after generation, faithful women and men turn to the Psalms as a most helpful resource for conversations with God about things that matter most.” (p. 15.)  Psalm 16 is a song of trust in God which speaks about the fullness of living in God and seeking His path of love in our lives as we approach each day and ultimately our own death. Saint John Paul II describes Psalm 16 as follows: “these words fit perfectly into an interpretation that broadens the prospect to the hope of communion with God beyond death, in eternal life.” (General Audience, July 28, 2004.)

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
    in the night also my heart instructs me.
  I keep the Lord always before me;
    because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
    my body also rests secure.
For you do not give me up to Sheol,
    or let your faithful one see the Pit.

You show me the path of life.
    In your presence there is fullness of joy;
    in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

(Psalm 16: 7-11)

This faith and trust in God has the power to transform our understanding of death and places it within the context of the redemptive, salvific mercy of God as revealed in Jesus Christ who is as Pope Francis states “the face of the Father’s mercy”.  (Misericordiae Vultus, Bull of Indiction of The Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, 2015.)  The Catechism expresses this truth in the following way: 

CCC, 1009 “Death is transformed by Christ. Jesus, the Son of God, also himself suffered the death that is part of the human condition. Yet, despite his anguish as he faced death, he accepted it in an act of complete and free submission to his Father's will. The obedience of Jesus has transformed the curse of death into a blessing.”

CCC, 1010 “Because of Christ, Christian death has a positive meaning: "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."  The saying is sure: if we have died with him, we will also live with him.  What is essentially new about Christian death is this: through Baptism, the Christian has already "died with Christ" sacramentally, in order to live a new life; and if we die in Christ's grace, physical death completes this "dying with Christ" and so completes our incorporation into him in his redeeming act.”

Jesus did not choose to take his life nor hasten his death in order to avoid suffering. His obedient surrender to the Father would become the path that would ultimately conquer death itself. At a funeral, the priest offers this final Prayer of Commendation to all who are present, “Before we go our separate ways, let us take leave of our sister/brother.  May our farewell express our affection for her/him; may it ease our sadness and strengthen our hope.  One day we shall joyfully greet her/him again when the love of Christ, which conquers all things, destroys even death itself.” (Order of Christian Funerals, 2016, p. 245.)

On November 2, the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, (or more commonly known as the Feast of All Souls), we do not go our separate ways but rather come together to celebrate and remember in prayer those who have died. This universal day of prayer within the life of the Church allows those who mourn the death of a loved to be comforted (ref. Matthew 5:4) and to be strengthened in faith and hope in the promise of everlasting life that comes to us through Christ. Our human death may be a certainty but through, with and in Christ, it receives new meaning. 

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Written by Bishop William McGrattan for Faithfully, November 2019

Most Reverend W. T. McGrattan, Bishop of Calgary