Entries

Month of the Holy Souls (Day 10)

November 10, 2026

Fr. John Colacino C.PP.S.

Day 10

A reading from the Book of Wisdom (1:12-2:5)

Do not invite death by the error of your life,
or bring on destruction by the works of your hands;
because God did not make death,
and he does not delight in the death of the living.
For he created all things so that they might exist;
the generative forces of the world are wholesome,
and there is no destructive poison in them,
and the dominion of Hades is not on earth.
For righteousness is immortal.

But the ungodly by their words and deeds summoned death;^*
considering him a friend, they pined away
and made a covenant with him,
because they are fit to belong to his company.

For they reasoned unsoundly, saying to themselves,
‘Short and sorrowful is our life,
and there is no remedy when a life comes to its end,
and no one has been known to return from Hades.

For we were born by mere chance,

and hereafter we shall be as though we had never been,

for the breath in our nostrils is smoke,

and reason is a spark kindled by the beating of our hearts;

when it is extinguished, the body will turn to ashes,

and the spirit will dissolve like empty air.

Our name will be forgotten in time,

and no one will remember our works;

our life will pass away like the traces of a cloud,

and be scattered like mist

that is chased by the rays of the sun

and overcome by its heat.

For our allotted time is the passing of a shadow,

and there is no return from our death,

because it is sealed up and no one turns back.

From a talk by Pope St. John XXIII (+1963)

The Church is always called to bear witness to Jesus Christ. This is a call to help others become all that God would have them be for others, as well as for oneself. It is only in Christ that we discover ourselves fully and recognize what wonderful gifts God has given us. God has created us to become persons who will radiate the beauty and love he gives us continually.

Each Christian is called to share in this vocation of the Church. It is not a vocation that ends at death. Rather, it only begins to assume its true dimensions when one enters fully into the Kingdom of God. It is only then that we enter fully into the beauty and goodness that God wishes to share with each of us. Think of the flowering of the vocation of the Mother of God, which began when Jesus gave her to us all on the Cross!

In the immense feld of activities that opens before the Church, and all who are her members, all people are embraced. All are invited into God’s redeeming and perfecting love. Do we want to persuade all to accept this message and the vocation that goes with it? If we do, we have accepted a direction for our living and one which continues even beyond the grave.

You know how many gifts you received from your parents, and from your brothers and sisters, and from the many others who reached out to you over the years of your growth as your full humanity began to flower. These gifts have not ceased to form and enrich us. Their influence will continue as long as our lives last! We have been created for everlasting life, so how long will these gifts continue to enrich us and shape our own sharing with others?

The Church doesn’t claim that it daily brings about the sort of transformation that the apostles experienced after Christ’s resurrection or on the day of Pentecost. But the Church doesn’t deny that God continues to work such transformation in individuals, and does it through the love and kindness of everyone Christ has called to redemption.

This is what he has called our dead to do for us, not only before but after their deaths. How long has it taken you to begin to appreciate the gift of life that you received so many years ago? Those who are with God in God’s Kingdom are only now beginning to fully appreciate the wonderful things God means to do through them.

That means we too have not yet fully appreciated or entered into the love and gentleness and kindness, and sternness, which have been part of our upbringing and our lives. Let us ask these friends who have gone before us to teach us more and more deeply the lessons our departed have given us. Let us ask God to fully open our hearts to the love of those who gave us life and taught us how to live it in Christ! What better way can we fnd to honor them and to work with them in loving and sharing Christ with others?

Archives