“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day” (Jn 6:40).

This is what we believe, this is our hope, that we who see Jesus and believe in him shall have eternal life. This is God’s will, this is what he created us for, to be in communion with him and one another in this life and the next. A word of assurance that I often lean on is from the book of Wisdom: “The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us utter destruction. But they are in peace” (Wisdom 3:1-3).

The miracle of Jesus raising the daughter of the official embodies these verses from Wisdom. As Jesus entered the home of the official many were “making a commotion” and Jesus dismissed them stating: “Go away! the girl is not dead but sleeping.” He was ridiculed by the crowd but paid them no heed, went to the girl, took her hand, “and the little girl arose” (cf. Mt 9:18-26).

Jesus’ assurance that the will of his Father was that all would be saved and experiences like the raising of the official’s daughter were seeds of hope that he planted in those who followed him. They witnessed  his actions and words, and not only kept these experiences in their hearts, but shared their stories. This is the gift of the Gospels. That we are able to enter these same encounters with Jesus to experience again and again that the kingdom of God is at hand.

Today, All Souls Day, we celebrate those who are victorious in Christ. Those souls who are now at peace with him. Though we may or may not encounter them again in this life, they see us. Let us pray for them and ask them to pray for us. May we open our hearts, souls, and minds to Jesus so that we too, like those who have gone before us, may believe and have eternal life. Share this Good News!

Photo: Remembering my maternal grandparents

Link for today’s Mass readings

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110217.cfm