In God’s Hands: Reflection for Commemoration of Departed Souls

Wisdom 3:1-9
Psalm 23
Romans 5:5-11 or Romans 6:3-9
John 6:37-40

November is the month for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. During this month, the church remembers the souls of all the faithful departed. It is not a celebration but an occasion of prayer. Catholics are called to lift the souls of the departed to “the hand of God”.

Prayer can be seen as acts of faith, hope, and charity. Prayer for our departed dispels. In faith, it symbolizes that we believe Christ conquered sin and death, so we can be free. The Book of Wisdom for this Sunday, which is commonly used for funerals, opens with a powerful statement that offers consolation for those who mourn their departed loved ones.

“The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction, and their going forth from us, utter destruction.

But they are at peace. For if before men, indeed, they be punished, yet is their hope full of immortality; chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself. “

Pope Leo XIV reflected on Christ’s resurrection by saying, “that no history is so marked by disappointment or sin that it cannot be visited by hope. No fall is definitive, no night is eternal, no wound is destined to remain open forever. However distant, lost, or unworthy we may feel, there is no distance that can extinguish the unfailing power of God’s love.”

Catholics pray for the departed as an act of love. It is our job to pray for our departed and even do things in memory of them.

As the church remembers all who have gone with the mark of faith, let us do our part to help those in purgatory to reach home and be in the loving hands of God.

For the souls of the faithful departed, eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord. And let the perpetual light shine upon them. May their soul and the souls of the faithfully departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen