31st Sunday in Ordinary
Time & The Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls) – Nov. 2,
2025
Wisdom 3:1-9; Romans
5:5-11 (Or Romans 6:3-9); John 6:37-40
Theme:
Jesus’ Mission is to Raise on the Last Day All Those Who Follow and Believe in
Him
A. A
Brief Exegetical Analysis of John 6:37-40
1.
Historical and Literary Contexts
Our
Gospel passage is part of the Bread of Life Discourse (6:22-71), where Jesus
declares that his Body and Blood are the heavenly bread and drink that give
eternal life to the world. The Jews do not believe in him. John recounts the
stories of the Multiplication of the Loaves (6:1-15) and Jesus’ Walking on the
Water (6:16-21) just before this Bread of Life Discourse, and the story of the
Feast of Tabernacles (7:1-13) afterward.
2.
Form, Structure, and Movement
Our
Gospel passage is a story told in one central part: Jesus promises to raise
everyone who comes to him and believes that his Body and Blood are the heavenly
bread and drink that give eternal life.
3.
Detailed Analysis
Everything that the Father gives me will come to me. Believers and Jesus’ followers are God’s gifts to Jesus
(v. 37a). It is God who sent Jesus from heaven to this world to fulfill not
Jesus’ will but God’s will (v. 38). This will of God is that Jesus should not
reject (v. 37b) or lose (v. 39) any of the believers God gave to him but rather
raise them at the end of the age for eternal life in God’s kingdom.
4.
Synthesis
Jesus
received a mission from his Father, who sent him from heaven. This mission is
that he should not reject or lose the believers whom God gave him as gifts, but
rather raise them on the last day for eternal life in the kingdom of God.
B. Pastoral
Implications
1.
Liturgical Context
All
three readings of this liturgy speak of the eternal life that awaits the souls
of the righteous. In the Gospel, Jesus affirms that on the last day, he will
raise all who follow and believe in him. The author of the first reading states
that no torment shall harm the souls of the righteous because they are in God’s
hands. Therefore, we should not see our daily sufferings as divine punishment.
Saint Paul, in the second reading, tells the Romans and us today that we are
justified (saved) by Jesus’s blood.
2.
What the Church Teaches Us Today
First, our Holy Mother
Church wants us to understand and believe that eternal life awaits all of us who
follow Jesus and believe in him. In the Gospel, Jesus promises that he will
reject or lose no one who comes to him and believes in him because we are God’s
gifts to him. On the last day, he will raise us up to share his glory in
heaven. In the second reading, Saint Paul reminds us that we will be saved
through Christ, who died for us, and his blood has reconciled us to God and
justified us. Therefore, let us continue to believe in Jesus and follow him to enjoy
the justification he offers us.
Second, believing in
Jesus and following him involves enduring suffering. That’s why the Church
wants us to understand that our daily struggles should not be seen as God’s
punishments. Our second reading, taken from the central part of chapters 1-6,
addresses this belief. People at that time thought that suffering,
childlessness, and early death were punishment from God. In this section, the
sacred author clarifies that these three trials should not be viewed as
punishments from God. The passage we heard in our second reading focuses solely
on suffering. The sacred author begins by reassuring us that our souls, we who
trust in the Lord, are in God’s hands, and no torment will touch them. Then, he
encourages us not to see our daily struggles as divine punishment but as
purification and opportunities to show our faithfulness to God.
May this Mass help us
continue to follow and believe in Jesus, so that one day we may enjoy the
eternal life he offers us through his death on the Cross. Amen.
Rev. Leon
Ngandu, SVD
Pastor of Holy Family Catholic Church, Jackson, MS
&
SVD USS Biblical Apostolate Coordinator
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