Job 19.1,23-27a | 1 Corinthians 15.20-24a,25-28 | Luke 12.35-40

We begin with Mother Church the thirty-first week of Ordinary Time, in this commemoration of all the Faithful Departed.

Death is an inevitable reality that proves the finitude of everything material. The human awareness of one's own death and also of the death of others is deeply disturbing, especially when it comes to loved ones.

Faith in the resurrection of Christ softens the impact of death. Christians still mourn the death of loved ones, like Christ when He learned of the death of His friend Lazarus (cf. John 11:35). But, once the time of mourning is over, sadness gives way to longing, in the certainty that we are pilgrims in this world, walking towards our ultimate homeland, which is Heaven. Like Christ, we are in this world to fulfill a divine mission and, when the pre-defined time ends, we return to God.

If they died in a state of grace (having received the sacraments), the faithful departed go to Heaven, alongside the saints (the triumphant Church); if they died in a state of sin, the faithful departed go to Purgatory, to expiate their sins (the suffering Church).

Today the evangelist Luke speaks to us about vigilance for the return of the "Son of Man," an expression that points to the Messiah, the Christ, that is, Jesus Himself.

Jesus told His disciples that the Son of Man would arrive at an unexpected hour, like a thief breaking into a house. The disciples should be prepared for the return of the Son of Man, like good servants who open the door for their master's arrival at dawn. The expression "loins girded and lamps burning" means readiness to serve.

The exact moment of the Son of Man's return is known only to God the Father (cf. Matthew 24:36), but Christians must be prepared through holiness and the practice of charity. Our encounter with the Son of Man will occur through His coming to us or through our going to Him, through death, which is equally unpredictable.

Those who live in holiness and charity do not fear the encounter with the Son of Man, for death is liberation, it is rest, it is eternal reward, it is reaching the goal. With Saint Francis of Assisi, we can call it "sister death."

Today the author of the book of Job speaks to us of faith in the victory of life over death.

Job believed that his redeemer was alive and that he would rise from the dust. Job believed that, in his flesh, he himself would see God, after the destruction of his body in death.

The faith in the resurrection of the dead reached Judaism through contact with the religions of neighboring peoples, although not all Jews had this belief, for example, the group of Sadducees. Christians inherited from Judaism the faith in the resurrection of the dead.

The victory of life over death is the ultimate expression of justice that God bestows upon His unjustly treated faithful, like Job, like Jesus. Those who are holy will not know the corruption of the flesh (cf. Psalm 16:9-10).

Despite the evidence of the corpse and its burial, let us console the bereaved, proclaiming the victory of life over death through the resurrection, through the redeeming Cross of Christ.

Today, the apostle Paul speaks to us in his first letter to the Corinthians about death through sin in Adam and life through grace in Christ.

The apostle taught that death will be destroyed because God the Father has subjected all things to Christ. In the end, the Son will hand over the kingship to the Father.

Paul said that Christ was the first to be resurrected, and whoever belonged to Christ would also be resurrected at His coming.

Christians belong to Christ through the grace of the sacrament of Baptism, by which they died to sin and were born again through faith.

The body of the faithful departed is laid in the earth like a seed, so that it may germinate for eternal life when it awakens through Christ from the sleep of death. It is the grain of wheat that dies to give life (cf. John 12:24).

Let us live and die as women and men of faith, with dignity, without falling into the despair of those who do not believe and do not trust. It is a work of mercy to bury the dead and console those who are widowed and orphaned, as a sign of respect for mourning. It is an opportune moment to evangelize.

God desires the salvation of all, but respects those who choose to refuse it. Purgatory is an opportunity for repentance for those who did not convert in life, so that they may be saved.

May the faithful departed who suffer in Purgatory, by divine mercy, rest in peace, and may perpetual light shine upon them.