On this Commemoration of All Souls we celebrate the fullness of the Body of Christ, the Church, and the hope that is indeed a Christian hope, a hope in Christ that reconciles God’s justice and grace.  As we contemplate the Souls of the Faithful Departed we are reminded that all those who have passed through the waters of baptism and have died in Christ, and therefore in friendship to God, remain alive and part of the communion of the Church, for death cannot destroy the bonds of love that are formed in this life.  Thus, the Church is composed of three classes of souls: those who have finished this earthly life and have been perfected and thus enjoy the beatific vision in God’s eternal presence (the Saints), those who have finished this earthly life and are still in the process of purification from their imperfections (assured of their salvation but not yet enjoying the beatific life in heaven, those in Purgatory), and finally those who are still pilgrims on their earthly journey and are a part of the visible Church on earth.  We are all bound together in love and continue to share our life in Christ and are able to touch one another through prayer, sacrifice, acts of charity and other spiritual means.

     As we consider our hope that is truly a Christian hope we see the grace of God that is hidden in his justice.  Pope Benedict reflected upon this in his encyclical, Spe Salvi (Saved in Hope): “To protest against God in the name of justice is not helpful. A world without God is a world without hope (cf. Eph 2:12). Only God can create justice. And faith gives us the certainty that he does so…God is justice and creates justice. This is our consolation and our hope. And in his justice there is also grace. This we know by turning our gaze to the crucified and risen Christ. Both these things—justice and grace—must be seen in their correct inner relationship. Grace does not cancel out justice. It does not make wrong into right. It is not a sponge which wipes everything away, so that whatever someone has done on earth ends up being of equal value. Evildoers, in the end, do not sit at table at the eternal banquet beside their victims without distinction, as though nothing had happened…Yet we know from experience that neither case (a life perfectly lived, or a life destined for hell) is normal in human life. For the great majority of people—we may suppose—there remains in the depths of their being an ultimate interior openness to truth, to love, to God. In the concrete choices of life, however, it is covered over by ever new compromises with evil—much filth covers purity, but the thirst for purity remains and it still constantly re-emerges from all that is base and remains present in the soul. What happens to such individuals when they appear before the Judge? Will all the impurity they have amassed through life suddenly cease to matter? What else might occur? Saint Paul, in his First Letter to the Corinthians, gives us an idea of the differing impact of God’s judgment according to each person’s particular circumstances…Paul begins by saying that Christian life is built upon a common foundation: Jesus Christ. This foundation endures. If we have stood firm on this foundation and built our life upon it, we know that it cannot be taken away from us even in death. Then Paul continues: “Now if any one builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each man’s work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work which any man has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (1 Cor 3:12-15). In this text, it is in any case evident that our salvation can take different forms, that some of what is built may be burned down, that in order to be saved we personally have to pass through “fire” so as to become fully open to receiving God and able to take our place at the table of the eternal marriage-feast…

     The souls of the departed can, however, receive “solace and refreshment” through the Eucharist, prayer and almsgiving. The belief that love can reach into the afterlife, that reciprocal giving and receiving is possible, in which our affection for one another continues beyond the limits of death—this has been a fundamental conviction of Christianity throughout the ages and it remains a source of comfort today. Who would not feel the need to convey to their departed loved ones a sign of kindness, a gesture of gratitude or even a request for pardon?”

     Thus, on this Commemoration of All Souls we offer our prayers for our beloved departed and trust that they will know, benefit and be comforted by our love.