From Living Faith Daily Catholic Devotions (October/November/December 2026)

All Souls’ Day

Wisdom 3:1-9 + Psalm 23:1-6 + Romans 5:5-11 or Romans 6:3-9 + John 6:31-40

Bonds That Unite Us

For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life…. John 6:40 

As years go by, the act of remembering takes on ever greater importance. this is not just because there is more to remember but from the increasing recognition of how much I owe to those who have gone before me. They are part of who I am.

On this day set apart for commemorating the faithful departed, the Church brings this reality to a level of unprecedented depth. the bonds that unite us with the deceased are not simply the stuff of memory, something that inevitably dims with time. there is among those baptized in Christ a communion of life that, while mysterious, is substantially more real than even our closest relationships in this life.

Our communion with the deceased is given special expression today in our prayers that the departed be taken up into the fullness of God’s life and love.

□ Fr. Dennis Gallagher, A.A.