Sunday, November 2

The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls Day) – Year C

First Reading – Wisdom 3:1-9

But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be an affliction, and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace. For though in the sight of men they were punished, their hope is full of immortality. Having been disciplined a little, they will receive great good, because God tested them and found them worthy of himself; like gold in the furnace he tried them, and like a sacrificial burnt offering he accepted them. In the time of their visitation they will shine forth, and will run like sparks through the stubble. They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign over them for ever. Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his elect, and he watches over his holy ones. 

Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6

℟ The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want;

He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters;

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

℟ The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

℟ The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows.

℟ The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. 

℟ The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Second Reading – Romans 5:5-11

Hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. While we were yet helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man—­ though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received our reconciliation.

(Alternative) Second Reading – Romans 6:3-9

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Crhist Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our former man was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For he who has died is freed from sin. 8But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Alleluia - Matthew 25:34

℟ Alleluia!

Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

℟Alleluia!

Gospel – John 6:37-40

All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition, Ignatius Press, Copyright ⓒ 2006.