Lost... and Found

A Reflection on the First Reading for Sunday, November 2nd, 2025:
​The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls)

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Wisdom
​3.1-9

​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 a disaster,
and their going from us to be their destruction;
but they are at peace.


For though in the sight of others 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 forever.
Those who trust in him will understand truth,
and the faithful will abide with him in love,
because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones,
and he watches over his elect.

​Pause. Pray. Reflect.

“I’m so sorry for your loss.”
 
Have you said these words before? I know I have. It’s a common expression of condolence; an expression that you feel another’s sorrow. Sometimes the words are spoken almost as if by rote. After all, what can you really say when someone dies? It’s awkward. For some, it’s downright uncomfortable. Even when we’ve experienced the death of loved one ourselves, we can never really know how the receipt of such a phrase truly feels. We are not them.
 
And what about that person; the one who receives these words. Does such a phrase bring comfort? I’ve known some people to be offended by the idea that the person that has died is a “loss”. Like somehow the family and friends of the deceased lost at some game or that their loved one is in some way directionally challenged and can’t be found. Their loved one isn’t “lost”; they have died. They are gone from this life, and really the family and friends left behind are the lost. I know I certainly was after the death of my mother many years ago. She was no longer there to guide me, share her wisdom, and witness God’s love in her life to me and our family. She wasn’t lost I was. And in the immediate aftermath of her death, it felt final. For many death is…well, the end. 
 
Yet the term lost can also imply that there is a possibility of that lost something being found again. Because…
 
“Life has not ended, but changed.”


These words are spoken by the priest at every funeral Mass. I always listen intently for them, because they remind that in the midst of the sorrow that surrounds the loss of a loved one, there is hope. A hope that is beyond the earthly life that I know. That all God that has promised is awaiting the person who has died. And more importantly, God continues to care for me too when I am lost in the depths of my grief. God continues to reassure me that all is not lost. Even when I cannot see, feel, or hear my mother or other loved ones who have died, I can take solace in the fact that they are not dead. Because if I am a believer in God’s saving Love that I know Christ vanquished death once and for all by His death on the Cross. All is far from lost. Yes, the grief of losing a loved one can overwhelm, but the grief can be countered with the hope and certainty of being reunited with what was thought to be lost. The people we love who have died, are a loss for us in this life. But as this scripture reminds us, they are found in the arms of God and are embraced by His peace. And we will see them again. What was lost, will be found.




Aurea Sadi

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