Nov 2, 2025: Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)

Introduction

On All Souls’ Day, the Church gathers to pray for the faithful departed, remembering all who have died and entrusting them to God’s mercy. This commemoration, which follows the Feast of All Saints on November 1, expresses our belief in the communion of saints and the power of prayer to aid those being purified in purgatory. Through this solemn observance, we honor Christ’s victory over death and renew our hope in the resurrection and the life of the world to come.

The Mass for All Souls’ Day is unique in that it does not have a single set of prescribed readings. Instead, the lectionary offers a wide range of options, allowing the celebrant to select passages that best convey the hope of Christian death and resurrection in light of the community’s pastoral needs.

The readings below are those listed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as the readings for this celebration.

This opening verse is a profound declaration of trust in God’s care for the righteous who have died.

To be “in the hand of God” is to be held in his protection and love — a phrase used throughout Scripture to signify both divine power and intimate security.

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.

This overturns the older notion of retribution — that suffering signifies sin. Those who judge by appearances are called “foolish,” while faith perceives a deeper truth: the righteous who die remain in God’s peace.

This marks a development from the earlier Hebrew view of Sheol as a shadowy existence apart from God’s presence (e.g., Job 11:8; Psalms 6:5, 49:15-16, 141:7).

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.

Contrary to the belief that suffering is a punishment for sin, the author considers suffering and death a purification that the righteous must endure in order to be with God.

Like the refining of gold, God’s testing reveals fidelity and prepares the just for communion with him. Their “hope full of immortality” expresses confidence in the life God gives beyond death.

In the time of their visitation they shall shine, and shall dart about as sparks through stubble;

The term translated “visitation” comes from the Greek episkopē, meaning oversight or inspection. Here it refers to God’s saving judgment — the moment when the fidelity of the righteous is revealed and vindicated. (The same word is used in Wisdom 14:11 for the punishment of the wicked at God’s final judgment.)

The imagery of sparks darting through stubble evokes dry stalks in a harvested field, suddenly ignited: it conveys the brilliance, energy, and swift triumph of God’s justice.

They shall judge nations and rule over peoples, and the LORD shall be their King forever.

Sharing in God’s reign, the righteous participate in his justice and intercede for the living. Their communion with God is not passive repose but active participation in his eternal kingship.

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.

The passage concludes with a vision of covenant fulfillment: the faithful abide in divine love, upheld by grace and mercy.

Death does not sever the bond between the faithful and their Creator; rather, it becomes the moment when that bond is perfected.

2nd Reading – Romans 5:5-11

Brothers and sisters:
Hope does not disappoint,
because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts
through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
For Christ, while we were still helpless,
died at the appointed time for the ungodly.
Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person,
though perhaps for a good person
one might even find courage to die.
But God proves his love for us
in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.
How much more then, since we are now justified by his Blood,
will we be saved through him from the wrath.
Indeed, if, while we were enemies,
we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son,
how much more, once reconciled,
will we be saved by his life.
Not only that,
but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have now received reconciliation.

In this passage from Romans, Saint Paul proclaims the steadfast love of God revealed in Christ’s death and resurrection. Even while we were sinners, Christ died for us — turning enmity into reconciliation and suffering into hope.

On All Souls’ Day, this reading reminds us that God’s mercy is stronger than death and that those who have died in Christ share in the life his sacrifice has won.

Brothers and sisters: Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. 

Hope in God is never misplaced because it is grounded in the very life of the Holy Spirit, poured into our hearts. The Spirit makes present within us the love of God revealed in Christ — a transformative love that confers God’s mercy and grace.

For Christ, while we were still helpless, yet died at the appointed time for the ungodly.

Paul underscores our complete helplessness to save ourselves: Christ died for us not when we were righteous, but when we were sinners, alienated from God.

The “appointed time” (kairós) marks the decisive moment in salvation history when grace entered the world. Christ’s death is both the revelation of divine love and the moment of our justification — the new age of reconciliation with God.

Indeed, only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good person one might even find courage to die.

Paul invites us to marvel at the magnitude of divine mercy. Human love might inspire someone to die for a good or noble cause, but Christ died for sinners —those undeserving of such love.

His sacrifice surpasses all human comprehension and expectation.

But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

This is the heart of the passage: God’s love is not reactive but freely given.

Christ’s death reveals a love that precedes repentance and brings it about. He did not die because we were already justified, but so that we might become justified.

How much more then, since we are now justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath.

The verb used here for justified (dikaióō) is relational. It is based on the righteousness that originates in God, a righteousness that gives and sustains life. Through the blood of Christ we are delivered (sōzō) from the ultimate peril — eternal separation from God.

This clearly recalls the Jewish sacrifice of expiation offered by the high priest. In that ritual, the guilt of the one offering the sacrifice was believed to be transferred to the victim and destroyed along with the victim, whose blood was poured out on the altar. Through his own death, Christ accomplished this expiation for us.

Indeed, if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more, once reconciled, will we be saved by his life.

Paul takes his description of man without God a step further: first helpless, then ungodly, and here, an outright enemy of God.

The word katallássō (“reconciled”) signifies transformation — our relationship with God is fundamentally changed. If the death of Christ reconciled us when we were estranged, his risen life now sustains and sanctifies us. Salvation is not only deliverance from sin but participation in his resurrected life.

Not only that, but we also boast of God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Because we have received reconciliation as pure gift, our only “boast” is in God himself. The fear that once defined humanity’s distance from God is replaced by joy and confidence in his mercy.

On All Souls Day, we place our trust in the same divine mercy that Paul proclaims. We live in confident hope because we know those who have died are in the hands of a loving God, whose unfailing love “has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.”

Alternate 2nd Reading – Romans 6:3-9

Brothers and sisters:
Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death?
We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death,
so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father,
we too might live in newness of life.

For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his,
we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.
We know that our old self was crucified with him,
so that our sinful body might be done away with,
that we might no longer be in slavery to sin.
For a dead person has been absolved from sin.
If, then, we have died with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him.
We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more;
death no longer has power over him.

This alternative passage, also from Romans, reminds us that through baptism we are united with Christ in both his death and resurrection. The life of grace begun at the font means that death no longer has the final word over us.

On All Souls’ Day, these verses assure us that those who have died in Christ share in his victory over death and await the fullness of resurrection life with him.

Brothers and sisters: Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?

Baptism unites us intimately with the saving mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection. Immersion in water symbolizes death — death to our old self. Rising from the baptismal waters signifies rising into new life in Christ.

We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life.

Through baptism, we do not merely imitate Christ’s resurrection; we are drawn into its power.

The “glory of the Father” refers to the divine majesty that raised Christ from death, the same power now at work in believers. To “walk in newness of life” means to live daily in the grace and freedom of this new creation.

“Paul says this so that we might know that once we have been baptized we should no longer sin, since when we are baptized we die with Christ. This is what it means to be baptized into His death. For there all our sins die, so that, renewed by the death we have cast off, we might be seen to rise as those who have been born again to new life, so that just as Christ died to sin and rose again, so through baptism we might also have the hope of resurrection. Therefore, baptism is the death of sin so that a new birth might follow, which, although the body remains, nevertheless renews us in our soul and buries all our old evil deeds” [The Ambrosiaster (between 366-384 AD), Commentaries on Thirteen Pauline Epistles].

For if we have grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be united with him in the resurrection.

The future tense in this verse expresses both promise and hope: what began in baptism will be brought to completion in eternal life.

We know that our old self was crucified with him, so that our sinful body might be done away with, that we might no longer be in slavery to sin.

Paul describes the transformation of the believer as a crucifixion of the “old self.” Through Christ’s death, the tyranny of sin is broken, and we are set free from its dominion.

Thus, baptism marks not only forgiveness but liberation.

For a dead person has been absolved from sin.

Just as physical death ends a person’s obligations under earthly law, so too the “death” we undergo in baptism ends sin’s claim over us.

The baptized Christian has died with Christ — symbolically and spiritually — and therefore sin no longer has legal or moral authority to rule that person’s life.

This “absolution” does not mean the baptized are incapable of sinning afterward; rather, it means their relationship to sin has fundamentally changed. They are no longer enslaved to it, because through grace they have been justified and set free to live for God.

If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.

Faith assures us that union with Christ in death leads inevitably to union with him in life. This new life is already present in grace and will be fulfilled in glory.

We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him. 

Christ’s resurrection is definitive and unrepeatable. Because we share in his risen life, death no longer has ultimate power over us.

As we pray today for the faithful departed, these words express our deepest hope: that those who were baptized into Christ’s death now share in his risen life.

Gospel – John 6:37-40

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.”

In this passage from John’s Gospel, Jesus speaks words of deep consolation and promise: All who come to him will never be cast out, and none entrusted to him will be lost.

Jesus said to the crowds: “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,

This verse expresses both the mystery of divine initiative and the boundless mercy of Christ.

Faith itself begins with the Father’s grace — God draws souls to his Son through the quiet working of the Spirit (cf. John 6:44). Yet divine initiative never cancels human freedom; rather, it enables our free response to Christ’s call.

and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,

Jesus assures that no one who turns to him in sincerity will be cast out. His welcome is unconditional and universal, reflecting the Father’s desire that none be lost.

For the faithful, this statement is a profound source of hope: those who come to Christ find in him not judgment or exclusion, but a home secured by divine love.

because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me.

Christ’s authority and compassion are rooted in obedience to the Father. His earthly mission is the perfect revelation of the Father’s saving will.

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.

Jesus safeguards all whom the Father has given him; none are lost to him unless they freely turn away. The promise of resurrection on the last day reveals the fullness of the Father’s desire — to bring his people to eternal life through the Son.

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.”

Faith in Christ — both seeing and believing — opens the way to eternal life.

This is not only a future hope but a present reality begun in the believer, which will be perfected in the resurrection when Christ’s saving work is complete.