Sermon for All Souls’ Day (Day of Commemoration of the Faithful Departed) - English | Fr. Walter Macdaniel
Sermon for All Souls’ Day (Day of Commemoration of the Faithful Departed)
01.11.2025
Introduction: A Day of Holy Memory and Deep Assurance
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we gather today on a solemn, tender day—the Day of Commemoration of the Faithful Departed or All Souls’ Day. We are here to hold in holy memory those who have finished their earthly course, those beloved souls who have been called into eternal rest. In this moment of reflection on loss and life's fragility, a fundamental question often surfaces in our hearts: Does God remember His people? Is His plan for salvation, and for our loved ones, reliable?
The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Romans, gives us a profound and comforting answer that forms the core of our reflection today.
1. God Has Not Rejected His People: The Assurance of the Covenant (Romans 11:1-2)
Paul begins with a rhetorical question and an emphatic declaration of God's perfect fidelity:
"I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew." (Romans 11:1-2 NIV)
Paul offers himself as living proof that God's covenant is not broken. He points further to the story of Elijah, who felt he was the last faithful person, but God had reserved a "remnant chosen by grace". This concept of the remnant is a powerful assurance: it means that in every generation, through every trial, and despite widespread faithlessness, God always keeps a faithful body of people for Himself.
For those whom we commemorate today, the faithful departed, we rest in the knowledge that if they are Christ’s, they belong to that chosen remnant—reserved not by their works, but by God's grace alone. Their place in eternity is secured not by human merit, but by the same irrevocable, historical promise that Paul celebrates.
2. A Stumbling, Not a Final Fall: The Hope of Future Glory (Romans 11:11-12)
Paul then deals with what appears to be a setback—Israel's widespread rejection of the Messiah—and reframes it as part of God's larger, global strategy:
"Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all! Rather, because of their transgression, salvation has come to the Gentiles to make Israel envious. But if their transgression means riches for the world, and their loss means riches for the Gentiles, how much greater riches will their full inclusion bring!" (Romans 11:11-12 NIV)
Paul calls Israel's failure a "stumbling," not a final collapse. This divine detour was intended to bring the Gentiles, those of us who were once outsiders, into the family of God.
This principle extends to our lives and the lives of the departed. We often look at an individual life—their struggles, their incomplete stories, their failings—and feel a sense of tragedy or worry. Yet, Paul reveals that God works through paradox. The temporary loss ultimately leads to greater riches when God's full plan is achieved. The imperfections and missteps of our loved ones are not the final word; the final word is God's purpose of "full inclusion"—a glorious homecoming where all paradoxes are resolved and all is made new.
3. God Sustains Us in Our Troubles: The Consolation of His Unfailing Love (Psalm 94:14-19)
As we mourn those we miss, we are often reminded of the "anxiety" and "cares" of this earthly life. The psalmist gives voice to this very human experience, and then answers it with a declaration of God's sustaining power:
"For the Lord will not reject his people; he will never forsake his inheritance... Unless the Lord had given me help, I would soon have dwelt in the silence of death. When I said, 'My foot is slipping,' your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy." (1Psalm 94:14, 17-19 NIV)
This passage echoes the central theme of Romans 11: God does not reject His people! The same unfailing love that supported the psalmist is the love that supported our faithful departed in their struggles, their illnesses, and their final moments.
The "silence of death" is a fearful image, but the psalmist assures us that God's help rescues the soul from that silence. When the anxieties of life were great within our departed loved ones, it was God's consolation that brought them joy, and it is God's grace that ultimately brings them to eternal rest.
4. The Path to Exaltation: Humility and Divine Invitation (Luke 14:1, 7-11)
Finally, Jesus, attending a Sabbath meal, witnesses the guests jockeying for the best seats and gives a critical lesson on humility and honor:
"When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable: '...For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.'" (Luke 14:1, 7, 11 NIV)
This teaching is the spiritual mechanism that connects the two groups in Romans 11.
Israel, in seeking its own righteousness, was temporarily humbled (a partial hardening).
The Gentiles, brought in purely by grace and undeserving of the seat of honor, were exalted.
This is the great, comforting truth for the faithful departed: their salvation was never about claiming the high seat (exalting themselves), but about taking the lowest place in humble reliance upon Christ. In that humility, they submitted to the grace of God. And for them, the promise of the Host remains: "Friend, move up to a better place." Their true exaltation comes not from human status, but from the divine invitation at the resurrection of the righteous.
Conclusion: The Irrevocable Promise
On this day of holy remembrance, let us hold fast to the final, glorious truth of Paul's mystery:
"...for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable." (Romans 11:29 NIV)
God does not change His mind. His covenant love is a "gift" and a "call" that cannot be taken back. The faithful departed are not lost in the silence of death; they are held fast in the unwavering, irrevocable promise of God, secure in the covenant made with the patriarchs and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
May we, as we continue our journey, be strengthened by this same certainty, and may the promise of Christ be our enduring hope.
Amen.
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