Lectio
Divina:*
Meditatio:
‘..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 on the last day. ’
(John 6:39)
Commentary
Today we are experiencing a crisis of meaning. Although many benefit, more than ever, from education, income, wealth, travel and access to healthcare there is a widespread unease. This sense of unfulfilled lives can spill over into depression, addictions as well as political and religious intolerance and extremism. We seek for meaning where none is to be found. The other side of this coin is a widely shared sense that our lives are a waste. We come from nowhere, we are not heading anywhere even beyond death and, essentially, our lives have no meaning other than whatever fleeting or momentary meaning we decide to give it at this time – or so we think. In the Northern hemisphere, the arrival of winter and the presence of damp, cold and rain signal a season of decline and death.
Yet, bulbs are being sown for the spring and winter cuttings
are stored in dry places inside.
This weekend marks at least two significant days in the
church calendar – All Saints on Saturday 1 November and All Souls on 2 November
in the case of Western Catholics. In the
East, prayers for the dead are said on various Saturdays of the year but not
specifically this weekend. The ancient
pagan Celtic festival of Samhain which marked the end of harvest in a world
marked by a thin veil between the living and the dead was appropriated by the
early Christian church in Ireland. The eve
of All Saints (Halloween) was a time of prayer and purification just in advance
of the Holy Day. In recent times, a
combination of neo-paganism and commercialism has switched the weekend back to something
other than the Christian tradition. A feature of such celebrations is a strange
focus on death, ghoulish spirits and dabbling in the darker recesses of myth
and pagan custom with more than a hint of human sacrifice. Harmless and fun?
perhaps. But this seems to be far from the message of Christ that death has been conquered and along
with it fear. We are heaven-bound and called to the light as a communion of
souls living and deceased. This has radical
implications for how we live and how we worship. Christian worship God and God
alone. However, we worship together as a
communion and we can be assured that the Saints who have gone before us pray
for us and rejoice with us not least in the celebration of the Eucharist.
There is the matter of purgatory – doctrine of the Roman
Catholic church and still very much part of the practices and belief of Western
Catholics. Indulgences, masses and visits to graveyards especially on 2 November
are woven into the traditions of Catholics in the West. In the East, Catholics
pray for the dead throughout the year – as in the West – but do not subscribe
to a doctrine of purgatory understood as a place or state. However, Eastern
Catholics do accept a purification after death as the soul meets Christ and is
purified by God’s love (rather than simply subjected to punishment).
On the edges of life and death we encounter deep mysteries
and doctrine can be a guide but not a definitive answer to what happens and
how. It is in the practice of communal and private prayer that we are immersed
in the love of God and can experience the consolation and hope of everlasting
life. In this sense it is entirely
appropriate and in keeping with early Christian tradition to pray for the dead
and in particular those we have known and loved and who have gone before us. It
is a way of giving thanks for them but, also, helping them on their way to
fullness of life in Christ. As today’s first reading says:
"Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones, and he watches over his elect" (Wisdom 3:9)
“And hope does not disappoint us” (Romans 5:5) because we have submitted our questions, our doubts, our struggles to God who is love.
In approaching the throne of God’s grace, Jesus assures us that
nobody will be turned away. No matter who we are and what we have done or
failed to do God’s love seeks us out. He is unrelenting. For our part, we
need to be honest, to be open and to
take seriously the commandment to love our neighbour as ourselves. This is the
way to eternal life – faith and faith alone but not a faith that is divorced
from loving deeds.
Even as the dark evenings close in and we batten down the
hatches here in the northern hemisphere we can look to the light that Christ alone
offers and that this world can never. Our celebration of new life beats the
culture of death that seems to dominate the world.
Oratio
(Collect of the Word for this Sunday - Church
of Ireland)
Almighty and eternal God, you have kindled the flame of love
in the hearts of the saints: Grant to us the same faith and power of love, that, as we rejoice in their
triumphs, we may be sustained by their example and fellowship; through Jesus Christ our
Lord.
Footnotes *
These readings are taken from the Sunday lectionary
used in most Catholic churches. The source is BibleGateway.com: A searchable online
Bible in over 150 versions and 50 languages (using the New Revised
Standard Version - anglicised catholic edition). Psalms in this Blog are
numbered according to the Hebrew (Masoretic) text with the Greek
Septuagint/Vulgate numbering in parenthesis where applicable.
