ALL SOULS

Wednesday, 2 November 2024

ALL SOULS      

Created for Life

Greeting (See Rom 8:38-39)

Neither death nor life,
nothing that exists, nothing still to come,
nor any created thing
can ever come between us and the love of God
made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.
May this risen Lord be always with you. R/ And also with you.

Introduction

Death will always remain a mystery and a pain. Yet as Christians we live in faith and hope. If we had enough faith, we would face death without fear and welcome it as a homecoming in the house of the Father. In our faith, there is no place for the doubt that in death God will abandon his people, the work of his hands, his image and likeness, for whom Christ died and rose from the dead. God will not let us perish for ever. In Christ, we have God’s promise that we will rise from the dead for glory and eternal joy. In this hope, we commend today all the dead into the hands of the living God.

Penitential Act

By his death and resurrection
Christ brought us hope and life and joy.
With the fullest trust we pray to him
for the forgiveness of our sins.
                        (pause)

Lord Jesus, Son of the living God,
you came into the world
to share our joys and sorrows:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Jesus Christ, you died on the cross
to overcome sin and death in us:
Christ, have mercy. R/ Christ, have mercy.

Lord Jesus, you rose from the dead
to be our way to life and endless joy:
Lord, have mercy. R/ Lord, have mercy.

Have mercy on us, Lord,
and forgive us all our sins.
Let us live your life on earth
and lead us and all the faithful departed
to the happiness of everlasting life. R/ Amen.

Opening Prayer

Let us recommend to the Lord
all the faithful departed
                        (pause)

God of the living,
we believe that you are a God
of a love that is stronger than death
since your Son Jesus Christ, born as one of us,
destroyed death for ever.
Let all the faithful departed live
in the security of your love.
Let them enjoy peace, your peace,
which escaped them so often in life,
and give to us, too, the courage
to face life and to live it
in close union with your Son.
We ask you this through Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Note: The readings suggested here are only a few of many options, as the liturgical team and the celebrant may choose the ones best suited to the local community's needs from among those given for Masses for the Dead. The last section of the revised edition of the Lectionary offers some 46 readings to choose from.

First Reading: We Are Made for Life! 

An Old Testament author from the century before Christ expresses his belief in everlasting life: God has made us for life. To the virtuous God gives “shalom,” peace, that is, himself and all that is good.

Reading 1 WIS 3:1-9

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 in 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.
As gold in the furnace, he proved them,
and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.
In the time of their visitation they shall shine,
and shall dart about as sparks through stubble;
they shall judge nations and rule over peoples,
and the LORD shall be their King forever.
Those who trust in him shall understand truth,
and the faithful shall abide with him in love:
because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,
and his care is with his elect.

Responsorial Psalm PS 23:1-3A, 3B-4, 5, 6

(1) The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
In verdant pastures he gives me repose;
beside restful waters he leads me;
he refreshes my soul.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.

He guides me in right paths
for his name's sake.
Even though I walk in the dark valley
I fear no evil; for you are at my side
with your rod and your staff
that give me courage.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.

You spread the table before me
in the sight of my foes;
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.

Only goodness and kindness follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD
for years to come.
R. The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.
or:
R. Though I walk in the valley of darkness, I fear no evil, for you are with me.

Second Reading 

Intercessions

Let us pray to our living God, who created us for life and happiness. God will not give us up to death but give us eternal life. Let us pray to him:

            R/ Lord of life, hear your people.

–          For the dead in our families and our community, for all those who were dear to us in life, that God, who called them by their names, may be their unending joy, let us pray:

                        R/ Lord of life, hear your people.

–          For all those who had to suffer much in life from sickness, injustice or poverty, that their sorrow may now come to an end and that there may be no end to their happiness, let us pray:

                        R/ Lord of life, hear your people.

–          For the dead who had to go a lonely way through life because none, or few, cared for them, or because they were loners themselves, or because their children or partners deserted them; for those for whom nobody mourns, that now they may discover the joy of the friendship of the saints in heaven, let us pray:

                        R/ Lord of life, hear your people.

–          And finally for ourselves, that we may help and support one another on the journey through life, that we may go the Lord’s way side by side and share joys and sorrows, life and death, let us pray:

                        R/ Lord of life, hear your people.

God of life, we thank you for the assurance that the dead are in your hands and that we are called and destined to eternal life on account of your risen Son Jesus. Do not let our heart be troubled but reunite us one day with those whom we have known and loved. Lead us all to you through him who is our way, Jesus Christ our Lord. R/ Amen.

Prayer over the Gifts

Lord our God,
we entrust into your hands
our life and our death.
Give us your life-giving bread
and the wine of loyalty to your covenant,
that by their power
we may overcome death and live for life,
and may join those who have gone before us in faith,
through Jesus Christ, your Son
and our risen Lord for ever. R/ Amen.

Introduction to the Eucharistic Prayer

Let us give our wholehearted praise to the Father of life and happiness, for he has created us for life and has not abandoned us to death. Through Jesus Christ, our Risen Lord, he has brought us the fullness of life.

 (Do not forget to use the inserts for the dead in the Eucharistic Prayer.)

Introduction to the Lord’s Prayer

Let us pray in the words of Jesus
to the God of life and hope
who is our Father in heaven: R/ Our Father...

Deliver Us

Deliver us, Lord, from every evil
and grant your peace in our day
to a world that cannot create peace.
Grant peace to the dead who died in the hope
of living in your lasting peace.
Free us from the fear of death,
as we wait in joyful hope
for our resurrection and the full life
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. R/ For the kingdom...

Invitation to Communion

This is our risen Lord, who said:
I am the resurrection and the life.
Those who believe in me will live,
even though they die;
and whoever lives and believes in me
will never die.
Happy are we to be united
as we eat the bread of eternal life. R/ Lord, I am not worthy...

Prayer after Communion

God our Father,
you know and love us beyond death.
We thank you for calling all of us
to live forever in your friendship.
We thank you for the unending happiness
of the saints who live in your joy.
We thank you
for your undying, everlasting love
for us and for all our beloved dead.
Accept our thanks through your risen Son,
Jesus Christ, our Lord for ever. R/ Amen.

Blessing

We have prayed today
for those who have died,
known or unknown, close or distant.
It was an occasion for us to deepen our faith
in the resurrection promised
to the deceased and to ourselves.

We believe in a living God
who wants all to live in his love and joy.
May our God of life bless you all,
the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. R/ Amen.

Let us go in the peace of the Lord. R/ Thanks be to God.

Commentary

God’s Own Souls

The response of the souls on the right to the King is surprising: “Lord, when did we see you hungry and gave you food, thirsty and gave you drink...?” How disarming an ignorance and innocence! And when the King explained whom they had been actually helping, their only response might have been one of surprise and delight—an “aha” experience! What does it tell us? That these righteous ones had no idea that it was the Lord they had been serving when they cared for the poor and the needy! They didn’t help because they “saw” the face of Christ in them; nor because the Bible or the Torah or the Koran commanded them to do so. They did so simply because it came naturally for them to help; because their heart was full of love and it simply overflowed to the neighbors. I wonder if these souls wouldn’t be closer to God’s throne, as they shared in the true nature of God himself!

===============

2 November 2024

John 6:37-40

Caring for Our Soul
On the Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed, I borrowed this beautiful reflection on “Caring for our souls” by Father Ron Rolheiser.

Philosophers traditionally define the soul as a dual principle present within all living beings. They view the soul as the vital force and energy within us, the inner fire that provides us with life. It is also the unifying element that binds us together. 
If you have ever been at the bedside of a dying person, you know exactly when the soul leaves the body. You know the precise moment, not because you see something float away from the body, but because one minute you see a person, whatever their struggle and agony, with energy, fire, tension in their body and a minute later that body is completely inert, devoid of all energy and life. Once the soul is gone, so too are gone all life and integration. The body no longer contains any energy, and it’s no longer glued together.
 
Since the soul serves as a dual force, providing vitality and unity, there are two ways in which we can lose touch with our souls - by allowing our energy to stagnate or by becoming scattered and unfocused. In both scenarios, we lose our connection to our true selves.
 
If that is true, then it significantly impacts how we should take care of our souls. The things that are good for my soul on a specific evening depend greatly on what I'm struggling with the most that night: Am I losing my soul because I'm losing vitality, energy, hope, and graciousness in my life? Am I becoming bitter, rigid, sterile, turning into a person who's difficult to be around? Or am I overflowing with life and energy, or am I so overwhelmed that I feel like I'm losing my sense of self? Both situations feel like a loss of soul. In the first scenario, the soul needs more fire, something to reignite its energy. In the latter case, there's already too much fire; it needs some cooling down and some stability. 
In this life, we already have the power to nurture and strengthen our souls - the God-given life inside us by cultivating passion and purpose, or by fostering connection and resilience.

Caring for Our Soul - Youtube