CELEBRATE SUNDAY
WITH ST. MARY'S
THE COMMEMORATION OF ALL THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED
Death has been transformed.
ALL SOULS DAY
Christ came into the world to free us from sins and the bonds of sin. By taking on the punishment of sin for us, he claimed ultimate power over sin and death and now invites us to participate in this victory of life. On this day, we commemorate all the souls of the faithful departed, and especially pray for those souls in purgatory. Christians have a very healthy and proper understanding of death: those who have gone before us are in need of our prayers so that they may become saints. Through sainthood, and through the power of prayer from those still on earth for the departed souls, the power of death is transformed into the means by which we are brought back to a life in God.
READ THIS SUNDAY'S MESSAGE
Coping with the deaths of those we love can be debilitating and may even evoke anger or doubt in God. When we deal with the suffering that is attached to death, we must understand that God also underwent a human death for us in the person of Christ. “Death” is not merely a consequence of sin (the corruption of the human body is the consequence), but now a passage into new life. Through death, we prepare to be awakened by God for our new life in Him, with hope in the resurrection of our physical bodies when all creation is awakened to perfection. We know this about death because, in his perfectly created state before the Fall, Adam was cast into a deep sleep by God so that he would be awakened to a new life with his bride Eve, who was brought forth from his side. In this same way, as the new Adam, Christ underwent a “sleep” in the form of his death on the cross. Immediately after he breathed his last, a soldier pierced his side and blood and water spilled forth. This was the moment when Christ’s bride, his Church, was created in the matter of baptism (water or blood). It was through the Church that flourished and grew after the earthly life of Christ that Adam’s words about Eve are exemplified: “This one at last is bone of my bones, flesh of my flesh.” Christ’s death made available to us a new life, especially for those members of his Heavenly Bride, who was created specifically for participation in the Heavenly feast.
What a lovely concept that not only is death capable of being overcome through the power of Christ, but that we as a human community have the opportunity to lift souls up to Heaven even while still living on earth. Simple and pure love was the motivation that drove God to become one of us specifically so that He could die for us. He will not take away death, but instead transforms it for us by participating in it with us, overcoming it, and raising everyone else up who dies in Him. In this way, death brings about new life. Christ came into this world to cleave God to humanity in a physical way, to be bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh, and through his death, all humans now have the opportunity to be brought into this new life. The commemoration of the faithful departed, or All Souls’ Day, should consist of two things for us here on earth: ardent prayers for the repose of the souls who have gone before us, and a celebration of Christ conquering death as a punishment for sin, and transforming it into an opportunity for us to be awakened to new life in him, especially as one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic community.
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