Wis. 3:1-9; Ps. 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6; Rom. 5:5-11; Jn.6:37-40

Who are the faithful departed?  Some claim to be saved by faith alone while others to be saved by their baptism having fulfilled the law but the faithful departed are the ones who have died to themselves to live in imitation of Christ.  To these faithful departed, death has no sting overcome by the cross of Jesus.  Faith without works is dead while baptism is the beginning of a life in Christ for those who accept the call to take up the cross and follow.  The faithful departed have run the good race, denying themselves their passions to live the passion of Christ.  God is calling us to a closer walk with him that we may be faithful before we depart from this life. 

Why do we pray for the dead? If they are already in heaven then they don’t need our prayers, we need their prayers. Revelation reminds us that “nothing unclean” can enter into heaven. Everyone does not die in a state of perfect grace but many die with the promise of heaven in need of cleansing before entering into the light of heaven.

The love of a Father is to correct his children and so we are “chastised a little” not only to correct our souls but to purify them “as gold in the furnace”.  Suffering is a gift we can unite to the cross as redemptive suffering making up what is lacking in Christ as St. Paul reminds us.  What is lacking for salvation is our fiat, our “yes, Lord” for he cannot save us without us coming to him.  This is life in Christ and in imitation of Christ.  The invitation is an open invitation while there is still time.  In our suffering we are reminded of the mortality of the flesh and our weakness without God.  Suffering can serve as our purgatory in this life as a cleansing of our sin. 

In our humanity we are prone to excuse our actions with words like “I’m not perfect…I’m only human…we all make mistakes”.  The words we don’t hear are “I’m a sinner”.  The sinner we are is what we bring to confession. Jesus came and revealed to us that God recognizes not only the sins of our actions but the sins of our hearts.  We all carry a heavy load of sins in the heart.  The faithful departed have been cleansed from all sin before they can stand before the throne of God.  This is the purpose of our sacramental life, to be cleansed, to receive God’s mercy, to do our penance in this life. 

We have a tendency in funerals to imply that the deceased has gone to heaven, but we don’t know that.  We like to say, “they were a good person” but Jesus says, “only God is good”.  So where does that leave us?  It leaves us with a promise that God is faithful to the faithful in this life who have departed.  It is the promise to the “elect”.  To those who are unfaithful he remains faithful to the promise of a heaven and a hell to separate the elect from those who have chosen to separate themselves from God by their actions. To the faithfully departed there is also a final cleansing in purgatory. 

This was the promise Jesus made to the “good” thief on the cross when he said, “today you will be with me in paradise”.  “Paradise” is not heaven.  Paradise is where the faithful departed were awaiting the coming of the Messiah when Jesus descends to the dead.  The thief did not steal heaven, but he did make his final confession on the cross and descended to the dead to serve his purgatory. 

The promise to the “elect” is that he shall shepherd us and “there is nothing I shall want”.  A loving Father knows best.  God’s love is that we remain in right relationship with him, called to be holy.  For the faithful departed hope has not disappointed and all things are revealed in serving a greater purpose for our salvation and that of others.  We are in the hands of God and he provides for us a kingdom of peace, justice and righteousness guarded from the evil one. 

This week was the movie premiere of “Triumph over evil”. In one of the scenes Fa. Amorth, the famous exorcist priest from Rome who died in 2016, retells his experience of an exorcism where the demon complaints of the bright light in the room. The demon says the light is coming from “the woman”. The woman is blessed Mary who the demon won’t even say her name. In another occasion the demon complains of the monk who is in the room with a rosary. The apparition to the demon is Padre Pio. The faithful departed are in heaven ready to pray for us, to intercede through Jesus to the Father. How much more our faithfully departed who loved and know us are ready to pray for us if we call upon them.

God is faithful, perfect, and loving and he calls us to be in imitation of Christ in the same way in this journey of life before we enter into eternity as faithfully departed souls. It is our turn now in this brief time on earth to respond to his call.