Thursday November 2
If the Solemnity of All Saints fills us with much excitement, the Commemoration of the Dead sobers us up. This memorial invites us to meditate on three realities: (1) Death is a rite of passage for every human being born into this world. (2) Whereas everyone is called to be a saint, not everyone responds to it adequately, and therefore, there are souls who undergo further purification posthumously and who need our prayers so that their purification process is hastened and they can be admitted to the beatific vision. (3) We, the Church Militant, are integrally linked to the Church Triumphant (the saints whose memory we honored yesterday), and the Church Expectant (souls in Purgatory, whom we remember today), and that the members of these communities can receive and offer help mutually.
Today we are called upon to pray for all the dead—the dead who are known to us and the dead who may not have anyone to pray for them. They, in turn, can return the favor by praying for us. One day, we all shall be together in heaven as one people of God, beholding the face of God and delighting in Him.
