November 2
The Will of the Father
- All Souls' Day -
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Today’s Gospel: John
6:37-40
(The Will of the Father)
- All Souls' Day -
All that the
Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out.
For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him
who sent me; 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. For this
is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him
should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
Reflection:
Jesus
makes a promise in this Gospel that should settle every worried heart, which is
that anyone who comes to Him will never be cast out, and that He will not lose
a single one of those the Father has given Him. That promise begins with a free
gift, the gift of faith, and it is the Holy Spirit working within us who opens
our eyes and ears to the sight and voice of God. So, we are asked to trust
Jesus fully, knowing that the Spirit will guide us and teach us and show us the
way, even though I’ll admit that all of this can be hard to put into words. If
you trust the Lord completely, though, much of it begins to make sense, and
each of us is on our own journey home to the Father, which means the
destination is the same for everyone even though the road looks different for
each of us. That will also come together as you grow in fellowship with the
Spirit and with your sisters and brothers in the Lord.
So let me ask you plainly whether you have placed all your hopes and dreams in
this life alone, because if you have, you should consider where those hopes and
dreams will be when this life ends. When we live a life full of the Holy Spirit
our lives never truly end, since our bodies will one day die and decay, but we
will go on living in Spirit in heaven with Jesus and the Father for all
eternity. Eternal life is the greatest gift God has ever given anyone, and it
means that death, as frightening as it seems, cannot do us any real harm. We
should think about these things often, not morbidly or scarily, but with
the quiet confidence of people who know where they are headed, and I hope that
makes sense to you.
Today, as we remember all the faithful departed, that confidence becomes very
personal, because the people we have loved and lost are not forgotten by God,
and the same Jesus who promised to lose nothing of what the Father gave Him is
holding them now. Knowing that our lives are everlasting with God is a
wonderful way to live this life, because it frees us to love more deeply,
forgive more quickly, and pray for those who have gone before us, trusting that
our prayers matter to them. Beneath the Standard of Mary, we learn to face even
death with hope, because she stood at the foot of the cross and saw her Son
rise again, and she walks with every one of her children who is trusting Him to
raise them up on the last day.
Where have you placed most of your hopes and dreams, and would they still be
standing when this life ends? What would change in your daily life if you truly
believed that death cannot harm you? And who are the loved ones you can lift up
in prayer today, trusting that Jesus is holding them?
Prayer for All Souls’ Day
Lord God,
you are the glory of believers
and the life of the just.
Your son redeemed us
by dying and rising to life again.
Since our departed brothers and sisters
believed in the mystery of our resurrection,
let them share the joys and blessings
of the life to come. ~Amen
Rosary Man Jim 🌹
Freely given. Freely shared.
