Daily Gospel Reflection
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November 2, 2023
Jesus said to the crowds:
“Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,
and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,
because I came down from heaven not to do my own will
but the will of the one who sent me.
And this is the will of the one who sent me,
that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,
but that I should raise it on the last day.
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 him on the last day.”
As we celebrate the Feast of All Souls, we find ourselves in the heart of the Bread of Life discourse. Jesus has just told those who followed him after the multiplication of the loaves in John chapter six, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger,” and a few exchanges later come the words that cause many of his disciples to head for the exits: “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.”
The disciples who heard Christ on that day thousands of years ago were right: this saying is hard. Coming to Christ in the Eucharist in faith and trust is not easy. But what consolation awaits us if we do come to the heavenly banquet of the Mass! Christ will not reject or lose us; he will raise us to eternal life.
When I graduated from Notre Dame, struggling through goodbyes that would scatter my friends around the world, a dear friend told me something I’ll never forget: “I’ll see you in the Eucharist.” And she was right; no matter how many years pass, when we come to the altar to receive our Lord, we are more closely united with Christ and, through him, his church.
There have been harder, longer goodbyes since then, and I’ve found great comfort in my friend’s words as I’ve mourned loved ones. We carry those we’ve lost in our hearts, yes, but each time we come to Jesus in the Eucharist, we are joined more intimately to the entire body of Christ. In a profound way, we, in communion with the saints in heaven, offer the sacrifice of the Mass for the faithful departed.
Today, let us pray in a particular way for our dearly departed and for the grace to respond to Christ’s call to come to him in the Eucharist, where none are lost.
Prayer
Loving Father, we know that death will claim us at our appointed times. But even now, your divine life and sustaining power grow within us, to be claimed in its fullness when we are born into eternal life. We trust your Son’s promise that he will not let us be among the lost. We look forward to our reunion with family and friends, knowing that there will never again be goodbyes and farewells. Grant us your hope that we might live with courage and faithfulness until that day. Amen.
Saint of the Day

Today marks the final day of Allhallowtide, as we celebrate those members of the Body of Christ who have gone from this life. We conclude our celebration of the communion of saints by giving prayers rather than receiving them.
Yesterday, on All Saints Day, we honored the Saints—all of those in heaven—for their example of faithfulness in every time and place. Today, we offer our prayers for all those who have died and have not yet reached heaven. (Visit our prayercard page to write a digital prayer card for All Souls day.)
All those who die in God’s grace and friendship, but who are still imperfect, receive salvation, but only after undergoing a purification. This purification—called in the Catholic tradition, purgatory—prepares them to achieve the perfect holiness and union with God that is heaven.
In his Commedia, Italian poet Dante Alegheri goes on a journey through hell, up through purgatory, to paradise. While Dante's Inferno (his journey through hell) is perhaps the most popularly well-known of the books of the Commedia, the two following poems, Purgatorio and Paradiso are both some of the most theologically profound poetry ever penned and two of the great artistic literary meditations on God's love and divine mercy. In Canto XXIII of the Purgatorio, on the sixth terrace of Mount Purgatory where the gluttonous are being cleansed of their sin, Dante encounters his friend Forese, who speaks to Dante of the purifying action of Purgatory. The love of God compels them to journey around and around the mountain constantly. Their purification is painful, but:
As we go round this space, our pain’s renewed—
I speak of pain but I should speak of solace,
for we are guided to those trees by that same wish
Which led the Christ rejoicing to say "Eli,"
When with his veins he liberated us.”— Purgatorio, lines 70-75
(Mandelbaum/Longfellow translations)
What purifies them is not the wrath of God; their pain does not come from divine anger. Rather, these souls are experiencing the pain of love—the salvific love of God that led Christ to offer himself up, in love, on the cross. Purgatory is a beautiful illustration of this image of divine love: love that will not rest until each of us is entirely made new in Christ.
As attested to by the practice of offering Eucharistic liturgy at martyria, one of the oldest Christian traditions of our faith is to pray for the dead—we’ve always offered prayers and the Mass for those who, like Forese, are in the crucible of purification for the final happiness of heaven. Fittingly, Cedar Grove cemetery on campus is the oldest ministry of the University—Father Sorin established it soon after arriving here in the winter of 1842-43. The images featured here in this reflection are both from Cedar Grove cemetery.

All Saints Day and All Souls Day and the small triduum of Allhallowtide remind us that we are part of a family that is wider and deeper than our physical world. This family of faith is a reality by which we are connected with all of the faithful who have tried to walk in the way of Christ through the ages. This is our community of faith. In Christ, we all form one mystical body.
Let us take a moment today to offer a prayer for those who have died but who have not yet reached the full glory of paradise, who still, like us, only taste its beauty and pain as it purifies our hearts on our pilgrimage to our final, heavenly end. Let us remember all of those from the Notre Dame family who have died, and all the faithful departed.
On the feast of All Souls’ Day, let us pray for the souls in Purgatory and all the faithful departed, especially those from the Notre Dame family and our own families.