These reflections are a result of more than 40 years of ministry as a Roman Catholic priest. Most of these years I spent in the Diocese of Charlotte which covers Western North Carolina. Now I am retired, and live in Medellín, Colombia where I continue to serve as a priest in the Archdiocese of Medellín.
Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. Let them rest from their labors, for their good deeds go with them. (Rev 14:13)
Give rest, O Christ, to thy servants with thy saints, where sorrow and pain are no more; neither sighing, but life everlasting.
Thou only art immortal, the Creator and Maker of man; and we are mortal, formed of the earth, and unto earth shall we return; for so thou didst ordain when thou createdst me, saying: 'Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.' All we go down to the dust, and, weeping o'er the grave we make our song: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.
Give rest, O Christ,
to thy servants with thy saints,
where sorrow and pain are no more;
neither sighing, but life everlasting.
(Kontakion for the Departed, Orthodox Liturgy)
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen. And may their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.
After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They prostrated themselves before the throne, worshiped God, and exclaimed: “Amen. Blessing and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving,
honor, power, and might be to our God forever and ever. Amen." (Rev 7:9-12)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110122.cfm
Today’s Feast of All Saints and tomorrow’s Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed form two moments of one feast—remembering and celebrating all the faithful ones who have gone before us and handed on the faith to us. Happy Feast Day to them and to all of us! May we follow them walking in the footsteps Jesus.
If there is any encouragement in Christ, any solace in love, any participation in the Spirit, any compassion and mercy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, with the same love, united in heart, thinking one thing. (Phil 2:1-4)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/103122.cfm
Being of one heart and one mind has never been easy for the church. Today is a particulary vicious time in ecclesiastical and political life. With so many bishops and priests and people in open disagreement with Pope Francis, the church seems to be on the verge of schism. The early church wasn’t much better, which is why we have so many pleas from Saint Paul calling believers to be united in heart and mind. Even the Lord prayed for us that we may all be one . . . so that the world might believe in the One whom God has sent. We still haven’t heeded the message.
So Zacchaeus ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus, who was about to pass that way. When he reached the place, Jesus looked up and said, "Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house." And he came down quickly and received him with joy. When they all saw this, they began to grumble, saying, "He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner." (Lk 19:1-10)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/103022.cfm
The story of Zacchaeus is one of my favorites. I learned to sing the story of “Zacchaeus, the Wee Little Man” in the Children’s Choir. The first reading today has an interesting phrase about God, the “lover of souls,” which is echoed in the Eastern liturgies of the church “Lover of humanity” and in the Eucharistic prayer for Various Needs and Occasions: “You are indeed Holy and to be glorified, O God, who love the human race and who always walk with us on the journey of life.”
For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. (Phil 1:18b-26)
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102922.cfm
Saint Paul’s ministry in Philippi results in this joyful Letter to the Philippians. Although the apostle is imprisoned for preaching the gospel, yet the letter is filled with Christian hope and encouragement. The Magnificat of the Virgin Mary also expresses hope in the God who casts down the mighty from their thrones and lifts up the lowly.
