All Souls Day November 2, 2025
Fr. Alexander Albert St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville
“I know he will rise.” Not “I believe,” not “I think,” not even “I hope.” I know he will rise. How? How can this unimportant woman from a small town outside of Jerusalem know someone will rise from the dead? Because faith is not a guess or an opinion. It is a supernatural conviction of truths that are beyond our natural reason. Faith is not opposed to knowledge. It is not opposed to reason. It is an extraordinary way of knowing. Of course, it is often subtle and easily misunderstood, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t real.
Martha knows her brother will be raised from the dead because she has real faith in God, in his revealed word through scripture, and ultimately in Jesus himself. And she’s right. Lazarus will rise in the resurrection on the last day. That’s why Jesus does what he does here. If you remember the full story, Jesus heard about Lazarus getting sick and chose to wait until Lazarus dies. Jesus, who cures the sick almost daily, intentionally lets he close person friend die from sickness. It wasn’t a flex, it wasn’t laziness, it was an intentional choice to prove Martha right and to instill her same faith in the hearts and minds of others.
By waiting until Lazarus dies, then getting Martha to say out loud she knows he will rise in the final resurrection, Jesus now has the opportunity to use his Lazarus’ resurrection as evidence of the eternal resurrection we’ll all receive at the end of time. And this story is preserved in scripture for us to have that same faith, to say with faith “I know he will rise.”
And yet, just because we know that doesn’t mean there’s nothing more for us to do. Sadly, many Christians have forgotten this truth. So many people give into false ideas about death. Falsehoods like the idea that we become angels when we die, or that death is about escaping our bodies, or that everyone automatically goes straight to heaven. We do not become angels, we are always human beings. We do not escape our bodies, they are transformed into immortal and incorruptible bodies.
And knowing that someone will rise on the last day is not the same thing as knowing they are in heaven right now. Notice that Martha doesn’t say “I know he’s in a better place now.” She knows he will rise on the last day and she knows that Jesus can get whatever he asks for from the Father, but she does not presume to say she knows Lazarus’ soul or even that she knows exactly what Jesus will ask for. So what does Martha do? She prays. She hopes. She affirms her faith in Jesus. We should do likewise.
It’s why we have this unique liturgy every year. All Souls Day is an annual reminder of three things: Death, Resurrection, and Prayer. Other than the people who are still alive when Jesus comes back, we are all going to die. Even those who are here when Jesus returns will be transformed so dramatically that they may as well have died. The point is we are not meant for this world, but the next.
It is good and healthy and holy to “keep death before you always” as St. Benedict taught his monks 1500 years ago. Don’t get too attached to this life and this world because it could all vanish in an instant. Even though God could save us from dying, he sometimes does for us what he did for Lazarus and lets us die. How could a loving God let good people die? Because he loves us so much that he wants something better for us than what this life and this world can offer and death is the only way for us to get that something better.
The second point is more than just knowing that the resurrection is coming. Jesus not only strengthens Martha’s faith in the resurrection, he updates it. “I am the resurrection and the life… everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” The resurrection is a future event, yes, but it is also a present event. For those who believe in Jesus… for those who live in Jesus, the resurrection has already started. Yes, we get glorified bodies at the end of time, but it is our vocation right now to live and reveal some of that glory in this life. Our bodies, our lives are like the beach at Normandy on D-Day, we are the invasion point where God’s kingdom of life is breaking into this world of darkness so that God can set us all free.
Don’t treat your Christian life like it all belongs in the future. Yes, your heart should be set on heaven, but that means you live for heaven now. As the Psalm puts it, “One thing I ask of the LORD; this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the LORD.” Prayer, intimacy with God, the Sacraments, acts of Charity – these are the things we do in this life which mark us as already living in Jesus Christ. And if do these things… we shall never die. Physically, our bodies may perish temporarily, but the life of grace will never cease. Live your resurrection now.
Finally, the most significant responsibility of All Souls Day is our prayer for the deceased. Because we know how hard it is to live a heavenly life on earth, because we know the weakness of human beings, because we know that God’s perfect holiness is so far beyond us, we also know that entering into heaven is no easy task. It’s not something we take for granted. From the very beginning, Christians learned to pray for those who have died. Nothing imperfect or unholy can enter heaven. Not even the tiniest imperfection can go there. So, to enter heaven, most of us need to be purified. St. Paul speaks of transformation in our reading today. Elsewhere, he speaks of a trial by fire. The book of wisdom warns us that even the “souls of the just” are “chastised a little” and proved like “gold in the furnace.”
The Latin word meaning “to cleanse” is “purgatus.” Just as we use the word “Trinity” to describe God despite the fact that “Trinity” is not in the bible, so we use the word “purgatory” to describe this cleansing. And one of the most dangerous trends in Catholicism right now is this trend of saying “I know they’re in a better place now.” That’s not what our faith tells us. We know they will rise, but we also know that that resurrection comes with judgment. It’s not that we should be constantly afraid and worried, simply that we should not be presumptuous. Like Martha, we should say to the Lord, “I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” When we pray as the Church tells us to pray, when we cooperate with Jesus’ plan, he prays in us and with us and so we can have confidence in what God will do. But if we assume a soul doesn’t need our prayers, well…
So this All Souls Day exists to remind us of that sacred duty, that final act of love we owe to our loved ones. Remember that you will face death. Remember that you’re meant for a heavenly life that starts even now. And pray for those who have gone before us. That’s just one thing that makes hope different from presumption. Presumption does nothing, it does not act, it does not love. But Hope? Hope moves us. It give us confidence that our prayers and sacrifices matter. Have faith in the resurrection, have hope that you cane prepare yourself and that you can help others be prepared. Above all else, there is love. The love of Jesus Christ conquered death itself. Let that love conquer death in you by turning from sin. Let that love conquer death in your loved ones by praying for their souls. Let that love conquer death by saying to Jesus Christ who calls you to himself, “Yes, Lord.”