Homily for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed

Remembering the Departed: A Reflection of Life, Death, and Eternal Life

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, November 2, 2025

Today, we honor the souls of all the faithful departed. We remember our fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, friends, and colleagues who have gone before us in faith. Although they are not here physically, our faith reassures us that they are not lost or destroyed. Their death is not utter destruction, nor is it a total loss. It is not mere absurdity. If they lived with heaven in their hearts, they would finally be at peace.

The secularist and materialist ideology claims that all there is is the world that we can see and measure empirically. All there is is matter in motion. It speaks about the Big Bang as the moment when the world came into being, and eventually, it will pass out of being. Concerning the place and destiny of the human race, the ideology claims that after we live for a short time, we will die and our bodies will go back into the earth. The universe itself will ultimately wind down. Young people who swallow this scam completely are unaware that the secularist or materialist view of the world is not new. Some religious people may also not realize that this idea is ancient. The belief that there is nothing beyond this life was actually common during much of the Old Testament period. If you examine the Old Testament, you'll find references to an afterlife or life after death. However, the main view was that death is the end, and that after death, we return to the earth. For example, in the Book of Psalms, it says, “To you, Lord, I cried out, to my God I made appeal: What profit would my death be, my going to the grave? Can dust give you praise or proclaim your truth?” (Psalm 30:9-10). In this prayer, the writer is essentially telling God that he can only praise God while he's alive. But once he’s gone, he can't praise him anymore. 

In today’s first reading (Wisdom 3:1-9), we hear one of the most remarkable passages in the Old Testament that clearly affirms the reality of life after death: “The souls of the just are in the hands of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction, and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace” (Wisdom 3:1-3). When someone close to us passes away, we often cry. Why? Because we miss them. The pain of separation, a deep sense of loss, and knowing we won't see or speak to them again as we usually do cause us to cry. But some of us cry because we feel sorry for the one who has died. When we recall their circumstances before they died, we feel so sad for how their lives turned out. For instance, when my mother died eleven years ago, what really hurt me and made me cry so much was her earthly life of intense suffering. She was a woman of profound faith. I have yet to meet anyone who prayed like she did. But after her death, I felt deep sorrow for my mother, knowing that throughout her entire life on earth, she never had a moment of relief. She lost her husband, my dad, when she was 46, and then suffered so much to raise eleven children. And when she was supposed to have some relief, she was diagnosed with a metabolic disease. After 18 years of suffering, she passed away. It was when I sat down to write my mother’s eulogy that I realized she had no breathing space when it came to misfortune throughout her life. I tell you, that broke my heart and made me cry so hard. Over the years, what has helped me cope and find some healing is Jesus’ words to the women who were following him on his way to Calvary: “Women of Jerusalem, do not weep for me. Instead, weep for yourselves and your children” (Luke 23:28). How come? My mother and many believers who died are now entirely in God’s hands. By the glory of the Father, they now live in newness of life (Romans 3:4). Though we weep and sometimes feel sorry for them, in reality, we should not. Why? Because on earth we are still poor, but in heaven they are wealthy. We are afraid; they feel secure. We continue to suffer; they are healed forever. Our souls still yearn for God; they are already with Him. We still hope and pray; they are already in full fellowship with God. We still strive; they are already fulfilled. We seek perfection; they are perfect now. We still visit doctors for medical care; they are finally free from all sickness. 

In the Gospel (John 6:37-40), we hear from the Lord Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life: “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise them on the last day.” What are the implications of believing in Jesus? Believing in Jesus radically changes everything. It finally makes us realize that life is not random or meaningless. It reminds us that our actions matter and that we are to care about everything Jesus cares about, and still does. Today, secular and materialist people accuse religious individuals of being the problem because they focus all their attention on heaven while ignoring the issues of the world. They say that fantasizing about another world leads us to ignore the injustices and suffering of this world. I tell you, the accusation is arrant nonsense. It is actually the opposite. If someone is a strict materialist, they believe that all we see is all there is; they think that once this body dies, it goes back to the earth; they believe that the universe will fade into nothingness; they are likely not to care much about gross injustice happening somewhere in Africa, Gaza, Ukraine, or Timbuktu. They are likely to say, “Well, such is life. They are going to die, and I am going to die. Who cares?” But if you are a religious person, you believe in the teachings of Jesus Christ, including life after death. You believe that the children suffering and starving in Africa or Palestine right now were loved into existence by God and are destined for eternal life with God. Naturally, you will be interested in alleviating their suffering. Who are the greatest social activists and social justice fighters in the 20th and 21st centuries? People like Dorothy Day, Martin Luther King Jr., St. Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, and others. What do they all have in common? They believed in life after death. As we remember our loved ones who have passed away, let’s pause and consider where we stand today. Are we still on the Lord’s side? 

God bless you!