Today we commemorate the souls of all the faithful departed. This is a particularly poignant memorial for those of us who have lost loved ones over the years. We miss our loved ones. We miss their cooking, the sound of their voice, their jokes and laughter, those idiosyncrasies that were part of their charm and that both drove us a bit crazy and also made us love them. We treasure the moments and qualities we sometimes didn’t appreciate as fully as we now do with the benefit of time and hindsight.

And if we weren’t people of faith, such memories might be painful, even too hard to bear. But our faith offers us a hope that tempers that sadness – which can fill us with peace, confidence, and even joy. For as Saint Paul tells us, Christ died for us, revealing God’s great love for us. He reconciled us to God so we might be saved – so that death would not be the final word to our lives, or to the lives of our loved ones. Jesus promised us that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life.

These are comforting words, and a source of hope, because God’s love for each of us is unceasing and unending. If God sent his only Son to suffer and die a cruel death for us while we were still sinners, we can be confident that there is nothing God won’t do to pursue us and draw us to himself.

But even with hope there is the reality of the consequences and stain of sins that have been forgiven. And so we gather here to pray for the souls in purgatory. We pray that God’s love cleanse them of all that keeps them from taking their place in God’s heavenly kingdom.

As for us, we also take time to rejoice that the Lord saw fit to offer us a glimpse, a foretaste of heaven in this Eucharistic liturgy. When we receive Christ’s body and blood, we participate for a moment in that joyful union we hope to share with him for eternity.

(Fr. Michał Pająk, OMI, Nov. 2, 2025)