02 November 2025 – All The Faithful Departed
02 November 2025 – All The Faithful Departed
1st Reading: Isaiah 25:6-9
A vision of hope for the future, when God will restore his people to happiness
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever.
Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.
It will be said on that day, ‘Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us. This is the Lord for whom we have waited; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.’
Responsorial: Psalm 26: 1, 4, 13-14
R./: The Lord is my light and my salvation
The Lord is my light and my help;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
before whom shall I shrink? (R./)
There is one thing I ask of the Lord,
for this I long,
to live in the house of the Lord,
all the days of my life,
to savour the sweetness of the Lord,
to behold his temple. (R./)
O Lord, hear my voice when I call;
have mercy and answer.
It is your face, O Lord, that I seek;
hide not your face. (R./)
I am sure I shall see the Lord’s goodness
in the land of the living.
Hope in him, hold firm and take heart.
Hope in the Lord! (R./)
2nd Reading: Romans 5:5-11
God proves his love for us, through the sacrificial love of Christ
Hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die.
But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Gospel: Luke 7:11-17
Jesus raises to life the dead son of a widow at Nain
Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town. When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!” and “God has looked favourably on his people!” This word about him spread throughout Judea and all the surrounding country.
Loved into Eternity
“See what love the Father has bestowed on us.” The Halloween combinatrion of All Saints Day and All Souls Day, reminds us of the reality of death and life after death. These days are a sad reminder that our bodies will one day give out. Somewhere, sometime, sooner or later, we will experience the startling reality of death. Then what? Is it all over for the individual? Nothing but extinction, absolute silence, darkness? Will there be no more love, no more joy, no more laughter?
Jesus says there is a future. He walked through the doors of suffering and a violent death to come back and say there is light, there is love and laughter and rejoicing, there is a life beyond your dreams and imagination. Jesus offers hope for those who strike out when they come to bat in this life. What does this feast ask of us? Be grateful for what you have. Show your appreciation. How? See the love that is there. See what love the Father has bestowed on us!
Why do we pray for the Dead? It’s based on the kind of belief and hope taught by Jesus himself. He once said: “All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out.” Today the Church is asking us to pray in a special way for all the deceased, for all those whom we knew, but also for all those who died without the news of their disappearance ever being communicated to us.
Whereas we know only a minute part of this multitude of people who died since the creation of the world, our creator-God knows them all, and each one in their individuality. God knows all things: he knows what we are doing now because he watches us, he listens to us, he waits for us to turn to him with the simplicity of a child who confides in his Father full of love and tenderness! “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day.”
Jesus could not lose those who are given to him and who are guarded by his Holy Spirit! If during our life on earth, a man or woman remains firmly united to Christ by faith, hope, and charity, how could it happen that Jesus would lose him or her – If as Christians we remains faithful to the Spirit who stays in ua, then Jesus will raise ua up at the last day!
Prayerful remembering
Today we are remembering those we have known and loved — family members and good friends. Indeed, the whole month of November is a time when we remember our dead in a special way. As Christians, our remembering of those who have died is always a prayerful remembering. We remember them before the Lord. Remembering our departed loved ones before the Lord, praying for them, is one of the ways we give expression to our ongoing communion with them in the Lord. We believe that they are with the Lord, and that the Lord is also with us in this life. It is that shared relationship with the Lord which keeps us in communion with our loved ones who have died. In praying for our loved one, we ask the Lord to bring them to the fullness of life, as he brought the widow’s son to life in today’s gospel. We also pray in thanksgiving for them, thanking God for the gift of their lives and for all the ways the Lord blessed us through them. Today, we entrust our loved ones who have died to God. As “God’s love has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us,” we pray that they would experience that love to the full.
Key Message:
Are we walking towards eternal longing or eternal rest?
Homily:
Testimony: As I realized that I am nearing my fifties, I am getting a unique kind of fear. This is not a fear about my death. But about how I will feel during my hours of death. One day I will face that moment certainly. What if I feel at that moment that my life has been wasted? My heart filled with regrets and my body laying helpless, not able to fix it. How, how can I face that moment? These thoughts make me enjoy living a life serving my Jesus, His people and my own soul.
Saint Teresa of Calcutta once said, “At the end of life, we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, or how many great things we have done. We will be judged by how much love we have put into what we did.” Heaven is not earned through our brilliance or strength; it is reached through love for God and love for others.
This world often tempts us to settle for lesser goals like comfort, wealth, status, or success. Yet none of these last. The greatest tragedy in life is not failure, but success in things that do not matter eternally. Jesus reminds us, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?” Our daily choices like how we love, how we forgive, how we serve, are all steps on the road to Heaven.
The Lord Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Heaven must be first, not last.
Saint Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in You, O Lord.” Our Almighty Father created our body from earth, so our body is satisfied when it reaches back to earth. It feels settled there. But God breathed His life into us. So our soul cannot be at rest until it reaches Him. And our soul does not have death. It lives forever. So we should take care that our soul finds eternal rest rather than eternal longing.
Saint Paul lived with Heaven as his highest goal. In Philippians 3:14, he said, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Paul did not drift toward Heaven, he pursued it. He lived each day as a step toward eternity. He fought the good fight, he ran the race, and he kept the faith. His life shows us that Heaven is not reached by accident; it is reached by intention, by daily surrender, and by faithful perseverance.
When the powerful ruler, Alexander the Great was on his deathbed, he asked his servants to put two holes in his coffin, and his two hands to be visible outside the coffin. He wanted to convey his final message to his people – “Alexander the great, though he had all riches and power, goes empty handed to his grave. So do not waste your life, pursuing things in vain.”
Every day in our life is a chapter in our life’s story book. God plans, designs and enriches us all the blessings and tools for us to write our story beautifully. But what we write is our own choice.
When we write it beautifully our story book will have a happy ending!!
Practical Steps to Keep Heaven as Your First Goal:
1. Begin your day with eternity in mind.
Before the noise of the world fills your mind, pray, “Lord, today help me walk toward Heaven.” This one prayer aligns your decisions with your destiny.
2. Examine your priorities.
Ask yourself often: “Does this bring me closer to Heaven or farther away?” When you live with eternity in mind, you stop wasting time on what does not matter.
3. Forgive quickly and love deeply.
Heaven is a place of perfect love. Each time you forgive someone, you make your heart a little more like Heaven.
4. Serve with joy.
Jesus said, “Store up treasures in Heaven.” Every act of kindness, every sacrifice done for love, builds your eternal reward.
5. Stay faithful to the end.
Life will test your faith. There will be moments of darkness and doubt. But keep pressing on. Heaven is worth every tear and every trial.
Imagine arriving in Heaven one day and hearing the Lord say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” No applause on earth can compare to those words. The joy of Heaven will make every sacrifice worth it. Earthly rewards fade, but eternal life with Christ endures forever.