This famous verse from the Book of Wisdom in the Old Testament is a precious reminder. In this month of November, it captures a great vision of faith and of ourselves as human beings.

 

November is, we might say, the month of the soul. It stands as a reminder that the dignity and the worth of every human person cannot be separated from our nature as body and soul.

 

We begin November, of course, by honoring and praying to all the saints, those canonized and those who might be unknown to us. That day is a witness of faith that heaven is real. 

 

The goal of life and the object of our faith is, after death, the joy of eternal life with Christ. To be in heaven is to know fully what we were made for, what it means to be whole and complete. 

 

Even now, before Jesus comes again in glory and judgment, the saints who were faithful in this life have gone before us and reign with Jesus. Their souls are freed from all sin and desires that are not of God. 

 

They await only their final unity with their glorified bodies when “the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (I Cor 15:52). 

 

Our hope and connection to those souls should be alive and personal. We trust that they watch over us and pray for us. 

 

In our joys and struggles, we are like athletes with stands full of former competitors urging us on to join them. And can’t we imagine that the loudest cheering and intercession are coming from our parents, friends and patron saints?

 

On the second day of November, we continue to remember the eternal existence of the soul by praying for the dead who are in purgatory. 

 

There, the souls of the deceased who are destined for heaven but who have died with some remaining stain of sin or imperfection are going through a time of purification.

 

Once again, the eternal existence of the soul is part of the reality of purgatory. Our prayers and the Masses we offer for the poor souls, by God’s merciful design, hasten their union with all the saints.

 

Finally, during the last several weeks of November, the readings at Sunday Mass deal with last things. Most especially, we are reminded that each of us will stand in judgement before Jesus. 

 

Because our soul is destined for eternity, with or without Jesus according to our choice, we must prepare our souls now for that day that will come.

 

We must take that preparation seriously. Have we been to confession lately? Are there elements of the conversion of our hearts we have put off? Are we angry with someone and are avoiding reconciling with him or her? 

 

In our society, the diminished faith in the soul’s existence, both now and for eternity, has consequences. How easy it is to treat the unborn, the inmate or the foreigner wrongly if we do not acknowledge their soul which is everlasting and made in the image of God.

 

The dignity and worth of every person is linked to our immortal souls. November is a month that reminds us to take care of those souls, our own and those of our fellow men and women who have also been made by God for eternal life.