The Souls of the Just Are in the Hand of God

Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day) - Wisdom 3:1-9

[Note: The Church provides several options for the readings at this Mass. You may hear a different first reading proclaimed depending on which Mass you attend.]

The souls of the just are in the hand 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.

For if before men, indeed, they be punished,

    yet is their hope full of immortality;

chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,

    because God tried them

    and found them worthy of himself.

As gold in the furnace, he proved them,

    and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.

In the time of their visitation they shall shine,

    and shall dart about as sparks through stubble;

they shall judge nations and rule over peoples,

    and the Lord shall be their King forever.

Those who trust in him shall understand truth,

    and the faithful shall abide with him in love:

because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,

    and his care is with his elect.

All Soul’s Day is a feast day to commemorate all the faithful departed, those we know of and those known only to the Lord. It is a day to recall that although death separates us visibly in this life, the holy souls in Purgatory remain full members of the Mystical Body that is the Church, members who benefit from our prayers and who can benefit us with theirs. The bonds created in the sacrament of Baptism are so real that not even death can sever them. 

The reading from the third chapter of Wisdom is a popular reading at funerals because of the hope it presents. Even though death feels like an end in this life and perhaps as a punishment for the deceased, it is in reality the doorway to peace in the hands of the Lord. Here is one of the clearest references to life after death in all of the Old Testament. Its references to testing and refinement in a furnace point to our understanding of Purgatory as a final purification before experiencing the beatific vision in heaven. 

While the earlier part of the reading feels heavy with its references to the difficulties surrounding the experience of death, in the end this is a very joy-filled message from the Lord. The deceased souls of the just will shine, judge nations, rule over peoples, understand truth, and abide in love with the Lord. They will also experience the Lord’s grace, mercy, and care. This encouraging passage, written a little over a century before Jesus walked the earth, reminds us today that Jesus Christ has conquered death and so we need not fear it anymore. Death is not the end; it is not a farewell. For the righteous, it is the gateway to eternal life with the Lord. 

Let us pray for our beloved dead, and for all those holy souls with no one to pray for them, that they may “dart about as sparks through stubble” through the furnace of purification and into the waiting arms of the God. May they pray for us as well to be counted among the just who are in the hand of God.