In today’s Mass, we remember all the deceased members of the Seraphic Order—that is, all the friars of the First Order, all the Poor Clares of the Second Order, and all the lay and secular Franciscans of the Third Order. Many of you who listen to me belong to one of these three beautiful families.
For those who may not be familiar with this, Saint Francis, eight hundred years ago, founded what we now know as the Franciscan family. At first, he did not set out to establish three distinct ways of consecrated life. Rather, as his own conversion and witness unfolded, others were drawn to follow him. He did not go searching for disciples—they came to him. They saw his joy, his simplicity, his conversion of heart, and they left everything to join him.
By the time Saint Francis died, there were already about five thousand men following his example. These were the friars of the First Order—lay brothers and priests alike—living under a simple Rule of twelve chapters written by Francis himself.
Soon after, women began to desire to live a similar life of total consecration. The first among them was Saint Clare, Francis’s close friend and spiritual sister. With Francis’s guidance, she and her companions founded the Second Order, the Poor Clares, a community of contemplative women devoted to prayer, poverty, and enclosure.
Then came yet another group: lay people, married and single, who desired to live the Gospel spirit of simplicity and minority, without leaving their homes or families. Thus was born the Third Order, today known as the Secular Franciscans.
Over the centuries, countless members of these three great Franciscan families have lived and died in fidelity to the Gospel and the Rule of Saint Francis. Today, we remember them with gratitude and prayer. They have finished their earthly pilgrimage and now rest in the hands of God.
The first reading for this celebration, from the Book of Wisdom (3:1–9), reminds us: “The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to die, but they are at peace. Grace and mercy are with his holy ones, and his care is with his elect.”
My brothers and sisters, they closed their eyes to this world and opened them in the next. As the Book of Ecclesiastes says, the body returns to the dust from which it came, but the spirit returns to God who gave it. Their spirits are now with God.
Think of how many friends and family members you may have known who belonged to one of these orders. If they lived faithfully—if they followed the Rule, gave their lives to Christ, and built a strong relationship with him—we can be confident that they are now with him. And if not yet fully purified, we offer this Mass in suffrage for their souls, that they too may soon enjoy eternal life in the glory of heaven.
In today’s Gospel from Saint John (6:37–40), Jesus tells us: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away. 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 what he has given me, but that I should raise it up on the last day.”
My brothers and sisters, the Lord gives himself to us so that he may save us and draw us to himself forever. This is how much he loves us. He not only throws us a life jacket—he is the life jacket. He himself is our salvation. And he promises that none of those whom the Father has entrusted to him will be lost, if only we remain in his care.
Let us pray, then, for all the deceased members of the Franciscan family—friars, sisters, secular Franciscans, and benefactors—that they may now enjoy eternal peace in the Father’s house. Let us also pray for all those who died alone, in mission lands, or in suffering, that the Lord may grant them the joy of his presence as he promised in today’s Gospel.
And let us pray for ourselves, still pilgrims on this earth, that we may persevere in humility and fraternity, faithful to our calling as sons and daughters of Saint Francis. Finally, let us spend a quiet moment in personal prayer to ask the Lord to comfort all who mourn and to strengthen those who hope in the resurrection of the dead.
May Almighty God bless you—in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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