Transformed to Conform to the Glorified Body of the Risen Savior

Homily for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed

The readings for this Mass on the Commemoration Day of All the Faithful Departed can be chosen from any of the readings that are designated for funeral Masses or those that are celebrated on the anniversary of death. However, appropriate readings from the Hebrew Scriptures are hard to come by inasmuch as the Jewish people did not come to an understanding of life after death until very late in their history. Consequently, all of the readings that could be chosen from the Old Testament come from what is known as the Wisdom Literature.

Our first reading speaks of the death of a young person, something that has always been looked upon as out of the ordinary. However, the Wisdom Literature of the Hebrew Scriptures comes at this notion in a rather unexpected way. The author speaks of honor, the pursuit of every Middle Eastern person, and assert that it does not come with the passing of years. The author speaks of the honor of understanding as replacing the honor of gray hair, of an unsullied life as the true source of honor, and the life of someone who has pleased God as someone who has avoided the temptations that come throughout a long life.

The readings from the Christian Scriptures focus our attention on life that continues after our bodily death. St. Paul writes to the Philippians and tells them that the body of a Christian is transformed and glorified and, therefore resembles, the glorified body of the risen Savior.

The Gospel text from the Gospel of St. John recalls the story of the raising of Lazarus. However, we do not hear of the actual resuscitation of Lazarus but concentrate on the words that Jesus uses to comfort Martha. In the context of that discussion, Martha makes a statement that we remember today as the first time that anyone in the Gospels expressed faith in life after death. “I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the last day.” This statement appears only in the Gospel of St. John which was written at the very end of the apostolic age. The faith that Martha displays is, undoubtedly, the faith of the Christian community which has come to understand who Jesus was in their midst.

As we remember all the faithful departed today, we express our gratitude for God’s mercy which will eventually see all believers living with God forever. This is our focus as we remember the deceased today and place their names before the altar where they will be remembered throughout the month of November.