JESUS OUR HOPE, LIFE OF THE DEAD

As we near the close of the 2025 Jubilee Year with the theme “Pilgrims of Hope,” we are invited by the Church to pause and reflect on a truth that touches us all—our mortality. In just a few weeks, we will celebrate Christmas, the birth of Emmanuel, God-with-us, who is Life himself. But before we rejoice in that beginning, the Church asks us to look towards the end—our end. As the liturgical calendar also draws to a close, we are reminded that every journey, including ours, passes through death.

All Souls’ Day helps us to face this mystery—not with fear, but with faith. We remember those who have gone before us—not only with sadness, but with hope. We light candles, offer Masses, and visit graves. But these actions, far from being mere traditions, are expressions of firm faith and hope: that those who have died in Christ are not forgotten nor lost; they are in the hands of God.

The First Reading from the Book of Wisdom reminds us of this truth: “The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.” What may seem like defeat in the eyes of the world is, in God’s sight, something precious. “As gold in the furnace, he proved them” (Wis 3:6). Death becomes a path to purification. For the faithful, even suffering is not wasted; it is transformed.

Saint Paul writes of Christian hope: “Hope does not disappoint us, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5). Our hope is not shallow optimism; it is based on a historical fact: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). Jesus embraced death so that we might live. The foundation of our hope is a Person, not an idea.

In the Gospel, Jesus declares: “I shall not lose anything of what the Father gave me, but I shall raise it on the last day”(Jn 6:39). These are not vague promises. Jesus speaks with the certainty of divine love. Everyone who believes in him shares in his resurrection—both now and in the life to come, as we profess in the Creed.

As we remember our beloved dead today, we are also reminded to walk our earthly journey with the end in mind. We are pilgrims passing through this world, not to be consumed by death, but destined for eternal life. Our prayers for the souls in purgatory reflect our love and our faith in God’s mercy. We light candles not only to honor memory, but to proclaim the triumph of light in the face of darkness.

As we await Christmas, we prepare not only to celebrate the beginning of life, but also to deepen our hope in the life that never ends. Because for those who die in Christ, his Resurrection—not death—is the last word. And thus we hold fast to this truth: our hope is not a what; our hope is a Who—and his name is Jesus.