The
Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day)
(Wisdom 3:1-9; Romans 5:5-11; John 6:37-40)
The old priest said that he did not care if he was a
heretic but he believed that all people are saved. He might have shown more respect for Church
dogma, but in this case he could not be called a heretic. The Church teaches that hell exists, but it has
never said that any human being resides there.
Those who hold for universal salvation may look to today’s gospel for
support.
Jesus tells the people that anyone who believes in him
will have eternal life. He probably has
in mind followers who make sacrifices to serve others, but their numbers are
not necessarily limited. Is it not possible that all who have ever done a
loving deed may be considered a follower who has served? Perhaps those guilty of serious sins were
affected by conditions that lessened their culpability.
In any case today we pray for all the dead. We want to be generous enough to include in
our prayers those whose deeds we detest.
Our prayer should cover the man who just killed eleven people at the synagogue
in Pittsburgh. It also would include a former
boyfriend or girlfriend who may have betrayed us personally. Of course, it embraces our loved ones who
fell short of perfection but nevertheless tried to help us.
