Submit your intentions for the All Souls Novena

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Most of the time when we speak about death, we associate it with loss, yet there is another important feeling that we do not talk about, which is love. If we are sad for the death of someone, it is because we love the person who died.

Attending a funeral service for a loved one, or for anyone who passed away, may lead us to think about our own death. Deep reflections lead us to think about how we are living our life or the person we would like to be the at end of it. This kind of meditation should also lead us to think about how we are living love.

Our Holy Father, St. John of the Cross, has a saying that can help us reflect on death. More than that, it helps us reflect on how we are living and preparing for the end of our life - if it is according to the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ and his church.

“At the evening of life, you will be examined in love. Learn to love as God desires to be loved and abandon your own ways of acting.”

St. John of the Cross, Sayings of Light and Love #57          

Our Holy Father’s quotation is an invitation to think, not only about the end of our life, but also about how we are preparing for the end of it. It encourages us to live, to grow, and to do in the love of God. This quote reminds us that at the end of our lives, we will be judged by the love we have given and received. Furthermore, it invites us to live each day with love, to share our lives with others, to be generous, and to give without expecting anything in return. Likewise, St. John of the Cross reminds us that love is the only thing that will accompany us until the end of our lives. The love John is talking about is the of love of God and the relationship between the human soul and the Creator.

Death can make us sorrow, but thinking about love in those moments can give us hope. Hope that comes from the love we received from the person who died, from the love we have given and are giving, and hope in the resurrection that comes from the love of our Lord Jesus Christ for each one of us. Love that was manifested in the things we did for the one who died and in what we are doing for the people we meet in our daily lives.

My invitation in this month of November, beyond praying for our deceased brothers and sisters, is to meditate, think about, and pray about what kind of love we have in our lives. The kind of love that comes from God can help us know if we are living according to our Christian faith. Are we loving like God desires? A love that “is patient and kind . . . not jealous or boastful . . . not arrogant or rude . . . does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;” (1 Corinthians 13:4-5). Are the things we do for the love of God and our neighbor? Or are they just because of how we want to feel? Is our love generous or selfish?

St. John of the Cross explores God's love through the metaphor of a light that illuminates the path of life. This light is God's love, which guides us toward truth and understanding. This saying of St. John of the Cross also explores the theme of death and eternal life, and how God's love can help humans find peace and happiness.

November is the month to remember the ones who are not with us in this life. Taking time to pray for them helps us remember that death is not the end, but the beginning of a new eternal life. Our Catholic tradition and devotion of praying for all the Faithful Departed can be an opportunity to discover hope in the darkness of death.

Let us remember that our life on this earth is like a pilgrimage. One day it will end, and the way we live this pilgrimage on earth is the way we will end it. So let us love our brothers and sisters by caring for them and let us remember that “. . . I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me . . .” (Matthew 25, 35-36). Let us live in the love of God and in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ guided by the Holy Spirit.

What we have is the present. Let us then pray for those who are not with us, and at the same time try to live the love that will allow us to join them and our resurrected Lord.

Very. Rev. Luis Joaquin Castañeda, OCD

Provincial