God of all nations,
We lift up to you our newly elected leaders and government officials. Grant them wisdom, integrity, and a spirit of service as they undertake their duties. May they be guided by a commitment to the common good, justice, and the welfare of all citizens.
May they govern with compassion, humility, and a deep sense of responsibility towards the most vulnerable and marginalised in our society.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen
—via the Joint Public Issues Team
| Mark 12:28b-34 |
Friends, our Gospel features what the ancient Israelites referred to as the shema: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone!” Could I invite everyone to make an examination of conscience on the basis of the shema? Is God the one Lord of your life? Who or what are his rivals for your attention, for your ultimate concern? Or, to turn the question around: Does absolutely everything in your life belong to God? But people might ask: How do we give ourselves to a reality that we cannot see? This is where the second command of Jesus comes into play. When asked which is the first of all the commandments, Jesus responded with the shema, but then he added a second command, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is a strict logic at work here. When you really love someone, you tend to love, as well, what they love. Well, what does God love? He loves everything and everyone that he has made. So, if you want to love God, and you find this move difficult because God seems so distant, love everyone you come across for the sake of God. Bishop Robert Barron |
Today the Church celebrates the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed.
On this feast day, also known as All Souls’ Day, we honor the Holy Souls for their fidelity in life, as well as pray for them, since they are being purified before entering the All Holy Presence of God.
Before a soul can enter Paradise and be united with the Beatific Vision, the soul must first be purged of all imperfections and attachments to sin. This cleansing of the soul occurs in Purgatory.
Although the souls in Purgatory can pray for us, they cannot pray for themselves. Therefore, it is our responsibility to pray for them and for their release from Purgatory. If a loved one has already entered Heaven, our prayers will not be fruitless, since they will benefit another Holy Soul in Purgatory in need of prayers.
During November, the Church provides opportunities for Catholics to obtain plenary indulgences for the Holy Souls. Please read our special page dedicated to All Souls’ Day, where we explain how to receive indulgences this month. We also answer questions such as:
On the page, we also offer a free eBook, Novenas for the Holy Souls in Purgatory, which contains novenas and prayers to assist you in your prayerful efforts for a quick release of the holy souls from Purgatory. We hope this eBook and this page will guide you in fulfilling the spiritual work of mercy of praying for the dead.
May God bless you.
In Christ,
Your EWTN Family
Saintly Counselors |
In the past, the saints had very much moved to the background of my consciousness. During the last few months, they re-entered my awareness as powerful guides on the way to God. I read the lives of many saints and great spiritual men and women, and it seems that they have become real members of my spiritual family, always present to offer suggestions, ideas, advice, consolation, courage, and strength. It is very hard to keep your heart and mind directed toward God when there are no examples to help you in your struggle. Without saints you easily settle for less-inspiring people and quickly follow the ways of others who for a while seem exciting but who are not able to offer lasting support. I am happy to have been able to restore my relationship with many great saintly men and women in history who, by their lives and works, can be real counselors to me. Henri Nouwen |
| Luke 13: 31-35 |
Friends, in today’s Gospel, Jesus compares himself to a mother hen who longs to gather her chicks under her wing. As the theologian N.T. Wright points out, this is much more than a sentimental image. It refers to the gesture of a hen when fire is sweeping through the barn. In order to protect her chicks, she will sacrifice herself, gathering them under her wing and using her own body as a shield. On the cross, Jesus used, as it were, his own sacrificed body as a shield, taking the full force of the world’s hatred and violence. He entered into close quarters with sin (because that’s where we sinners are found) and allowed the heat and fury of sin to overwhelm him, even as he protected us. With this metaphor in mind, we can see, with special clarity, why the first Christians associated the crucified Jesus with the suffering servant of Isaiah. By enduring the pain of the cross, Jesus did indeed bear our sins; by his stripes we were indeed healed. Bishop Robert Barron |
| Luke 13: 22-30 |
Friends, our Gospel for today features a question that people have been asking from time immemorial and that they still ask today: “Lord, will only a few people be saved?” Heaven, hell, salvation, damnation, who will be in and who will be out? We have remained fascinated with these questions for a long time. Here’s how I would recommend we approach this issue. The doctrine concerning hell is a corollary of two more fundamental truths, namely, that God is love and that we are free. Love (willing the good of the other) is all that God is. He doesn’t go in and out of love; he doesn’t change his mind; he’s not loving to some and not to others. He is indeed like the sun that shines on the good and bad alike, in the words of Jesus. No act of ours can possibly make him stop loving us. In this regard, he is like the best of parents. However, we are free. We are not God’s marionettes, and hence we can say yes or we can say no to his love. If we turn toward it, we open like a sunflower; if we turn from it, we get burned. Bishop Robert Barron |
The Burden of Judgment |
Imagine having no need at all to judge anybody. Imagine having no desire to decide whether someone is a good or bad person. Imagine being completely free from the feeling that you have to make up your mind about the morality of someone’s behavior. Imagine that you could say: “I am judging no one!” Imagine — wouldn’t that be true inner freedom? . . . But we can only let go of the heavy burden of judging others when we don’t mind carrying the light burden of being judged! Can we free ourselves from the need to judge others? Yes, by claiming for ourselves the truth that we are the Beloved Daughters and Sons of God. As long as we continue to live as if we are what we do, what we have, and what other people think about us, we will remain filled with judgments, opinions, evaluations, and condemnations. We will remain addicted to the need to put people and things in their “right” place. To the degree that we embrace the truth that our identity is not rooted in our success, power, or popularity, we can let go of our need to judge. “Do not judge and you will not be judged; because the judgments you give are the judgments you will get” (Matthew 7:1). Henri Nouwen |
