Today we celebrate All Souls Day, the “Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed.” This day may bring bitter-sweet emotions; mourning those we have personally farewelled, praying for the ‘Church triumphant’, or looking forward to the future of our own Souls. The Gospel passage of Jesus’ raising the widow’s son gives insight and hope into all these feelings we might be experiencing.
Immediately apparent is the power Christ possesses over death. From His words, “I say to you, rise!”, the man is raised and lives once more, as if he had been merely sleeping. Everything on earth screams to say this isn’t possible; that death is our apparent endpoint. And since we can’t grasp beyond the grave, we hang on to the lives of our loved ones. Today, we are encouraged to remember Christ’s victory over death.
The true meaning of Christ conquering death upon the Cross is revealed. The death of crucifixion is not the end but the turning point that leads to resurrection. As with Christ’s victory on the Cross, we too are also meant to return to heaven.
We are encouraged to grieve those that have gone before us. They are now apart from us, and we honour them in missing them dearly for how they have impacted our lives. But today, Jesus tells us all as we stand in the place of the widowed mother of this Gospel: “Do not weep” for those who have died in Christ are now enjoying the presence of God in the heavenly Kingdom.
by Nick Kelly