Today marks the church feast of All Souls Day (also called The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed). It follows on the heels of All Saints Day (Nov 1) and, taken together, these two holy days offer us much to reflect upon. A few years back I wrote a bit about this which you can read here.
What I love about this set of holy-days is that it honors not just the people who have done extraordinary things (like the saints, for example) but ALL those who have tried to live out the faith in the many big and small ways that they have tried to live it.
Robert Ellsberg, who wrote a beautiful book called All Saints: Daily Reflections on Saints, Prophets, and Witnesses for Our Time speaks about how all of us are invited to respond to God’s call as it is being revealed in our lives. Sometimes this process invites us to do bold and so-called heroic things. But generally it takes the form of everyday occasions for forgiveness, patience and gratitude, kindness or service.
Today’s readings all come from the readings we would generally hear at catholic funerals which includes lines like “the souls of the just are in the hand of God,” from Wisdom 3, “The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want” from Psalm 23, and Paul’s famous line from Romans 6, “Friends, are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”
The gospel from John 6 is one that we hear almost every week right before communion when we remember that Jesus said, “I will not reject anyone who comes to me.” He then goes on to speak of “the will of the one who sent me…that I should not lose anything of what he gave me.”
Jesus will not lose anything. Or anyone. We’re always in his sight.
One thing I love about Spiritus is how we do funerals. In so many churches, they are, quite honestly, boring and dry occasions. But at Spiritus, we try to tell the story of the person who has died. We laugh, we cry, and we try to give voice to the impact that they have had as we acknowledge that this life mattered – with all of its complexities and contradictions. Through it all we try to keep that person’s life in our sight – even though they’re no longer with us.
Ellsberg, whom I mentioned earlier, writes that “Jesus never outlined the criteria for canonization. But he enumerated a list of those who were “blessed”: the poor in spirit, the merciful, the pure of heart, the peacemakers.” He goes on to say that “it is possible to identify these qualities not only in great figures like Mother Teresa, or Óscar Romero, but in people of our own acquaintance. Perhaps, as Pope Francis writes, they are among “our mothers, grandmothers, or other loved ones. Their lives may not always have been perfect, yet amid their faults and failings they kept moving forward…”
What I love about All Souls Day is that it invites us to pause and remember all those “of our own acquaintance” who kept moving forward in their lives and touched us somehow. Ellsberg says “we are shaped by what we look at and what we love. It makes a difference if we look at stories that elevate our spirits, empower our consciences, and open our hearts to new possibilities of human living. So often we give our attention to things that do the opposite.”
And so for today, let’s a take a long, loving look at the people in our lives who have passed and let them be present to us today. Say their names. Hold their pictures. Talk to them and let their lives speak to us and “elevate our spirits, empower our consciences and open our hearts” as we remain on this journey of faith.
I want to name my Mom and Dad, Annette and Wilfrid Boucher, my brother, Matthew Boucher, and my grandparents, Regina and Wilfrid Boucher, Theresa and Charlie LaBadie. I think about people like Fr. Jim, Sr. Grace, Kathie Quinlan and so many others from this community who poured into me and shaped me. I think about people I’ve called “clients,” like Ms. Maxine and Khaaliq, who taught me so much and I look often at the “wall of remembrance” in my office that reminds me of the many people I miss or who have inspired me.
There is a Latin American tradition among political and social movements of saying the word “Presente!” after the names of activists, prophets or martyrs are spoken. I find it a beautiful tradition which reminds us that even though the person is no longer with us physically, they are here in spirit.
And so for all those who we remember and name today, we say “Presente!”
2 Comments
Wallace Hamilton
Beautiful thoughtful words. Remembrance and memory are two important human activities. I recall many people all the time that I have encountered in life. Once a year however it is good to take the time to formally do so. To acknowledge their life and be thankful.
Peace Michael
Betsy inglis
Thank you, MIke, for reminding us of the connection between these two beautiful holy days. I m so grateful for the saintly people who have crossed my path and have had a great effect on my life. Like you, I treasure the legacy and the love of my parents and grandparents and the great grandmother that I knew. A few of the wonderful teachers and professors that taught me come to mind and of course the two that taught me so many lessons, Kathie Quinlan and Fr. Jim, who would both be aghast to be called saints.
I have also been blessed to learn so many life lessons from the dying in my work in hospice; from the patients themselves as well as from the nurses and volunteers who care for them. Many of those holy people are parishioners here at Spiritus!