Today we celebrate what is commonly called All Souls Day, technically its the Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed. Usually this is the day we say prayers for all of our loved ones who have passed from this life, that the process of final purification will be swift and they will enter into the fullness of life with the saints who we celebrated last year.
But this year, let me offer a suggestion. Instead of focusing on ourselves and our loved ones, how about taking some time to pray for all those people who passed from this life and who even today will pass from this life not surrounded by loved ones, those die alone, those who have died and been forgotten.
Where I live now it is not unusual to see the poor mentally ill wandering down the main street in front of the church. Who will pray for them when they pass from this life? And how many like them die each day around the world.
Today the Church calls on us to pray for all the faithful departed. In the words of the fourth eucharistic prayer, "Remember also those who have died in the peace of Christ, and all the dead, whose faith you alone have known."
