Though I walk in the valley of darkness,
I fear no evil, for Your are with me.
Psalm 23
I fear no evil, for Your are with me.
Psalm 23
Good morning. Several days ago someone asked how the Commemoration of all the faithful departed began in our Church. Was it always a part of the Church’s calendar or did a Pope, at some point in our history make up the feast day? This is a good question since November 2nd is always the beginning of a month of praying for the faithful departed.
Actually, this celebration of prayer for all those who have died was initiated in the year 910 AD in a French town. A prince, William the Pious, was the Duke of Aquitaine. He owned much territory near the French town of Cluny. He entrusted the property to a group of Benedictine monks to establish a monastery on his property, asking only that they regularly pray for his soul especially after his death. The monks did this.
So, this commemoration of the faithful departed began with one man’s trust in the prayers of others for his soul after his death. The practice spread throughout the system of abbeys that grew out of the Abbey of Cluny and was formalized by one of the early abbots who was eventually canonized by the Church. His name is St. Odilo. He died in 1049 AD and is recognized as the abbot who gave strength to the practice ... having all the monks — numbering some 10,000 — pray for the faithful departed.
A priest-friend uses an interesting example to speak of the reality of loved-ones dying and our efforts to continue remembering them and their goodness. He turns to the simple phrase: "when a lemon falls into your life, make lemonade." And don’t most of us do that when we encounter what is most likely the most painful moments of our lives?
I know that when my first nephew died of cancer at the age of five, I was devastated for weeks. I could not begin to imagine how my sister and brother-in-law handled Billy’s death. And when my Dad died and later my Mom, I was much older and realized how fortunate I had been to have them. I also encountered dealing with death in a different way ... their death was my loss. Even while I was away for my summer vacation these last two weeks, there were several times, as I stood looking at some of the moving scenes of nature, when I thought to myself, "how wonderful it would be if Mom was here to see this." I was making my lemonade, bringing to mind and actually talking to my Mom about the sight before me because she always wanted to experience seeing the wonders of God’s creation wherever she would go.
The Church offers us not just a day to remember our loved ones and dear friends who have finished their earthly lives. We have an entire month to enjoy days of recalling the wonders of loved ones not simply with recollections of events or words they shared with us but with offerings of prayers and Masses for them. November is a solemn month in our Church because we honor the dead. We recall their many good deeds. We recall, as well, that like all human beings, they we subject to weaknesses, to sin.
The second reading for today’s liturgy is the lemonade we can use to make the death of a loved one less painful. We have the virtue of hope. This is what gives us strength to accept the reality of death ... because it is our hope, our faith, based on the resurrection of Jesus who redeemed us, that is "... the realization of what is hoped for."
As we move through this month, let us daily take time to remember all the faithful departed and recall how God used them to impact our lives, how God may have used them as his instruments to teach us of his care and concern for us.
Eternal rest grant unto them, Lord.
Let your perpetual light and love shine upon them
