by fr. Lucas 2 November 2025 (All Souls Day)

“Dust we are unto dust we shall return”

Have you ever thought of how you would want to die? Have you ever thought of your moment of transition from this world? – These are questions many of us do not entertain. 

Today 1st of November, as we commemorate our loved ones who’ve gone ahead of us, I am brought to reflect on “brother death”.

There are two ways we can choose to die … the first one is that which I consider ugly death, and the other one is a happy death.

UGLY DEATH 

It becomes an ugly death if you die doing something wrong. If you’re doing something sinful, and you die, that is a very ugly death. If death catches you doing something bad, as you are doing something sinful, something illegal and immoral, that is an ugly death.

It can be an ugly death when you die with enemies. You die with enemies that you have not forgiven. And you die with enemies who have not forgiven you. That will be very ugly.  

Finally, it can be an ugly death if you die without God. To die angry at God. To die denying God, to die saying, shouting, there is no God. And God is dead. That will be an ugly death because soon after, you will see that God is real, and you will see that you were wrong in denying God.

HAPPY DEATH 

On the other hand, it can be a happy death if you die like Saint Joseph (the foster father of Jesus), surrounded by your family members in prayer, after receiving the sacrament of Reconciliation, Anointing of the sick and Eucharist. You will have received all the sacrament. 

Prayer of St. Joseph for a happy death 

“O Blessed Joseph, who died in the arms of Jesus and Mary, obtain for me, I beseech you, the grace of a happy death. In that hour of dread and anguish, assist me by your presence, and protect me by your power against the enemies of my salvation. Into your sacred hands, living and dying, Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I commend my soul. Amen”. 

PRAYER OF CARDINAL NEWMAN

Oh, my Lord and Savior,

support me in that hour

in the strong arms of your Sacraments,

and by the fresh fragrance of your consolations.

Let the absolving words be said over me,

and the holy oil sign and seal me,

and your own Body be my food,

and your Blood my sprinkling;

and let my sweet Mother, Mary, breathe on me,

and my Angel whisper peace to me,

and my glorious Saints (Padre Pio.) smile upon me;

that in them all, and through them all,

I may receive the gift of perseverance,

and die, as I desire to live,

in your faith, in your Church, in your service,

and in your love. Amen.

 Love continues even after death. Prayer has power even beyond the grave. Today, we commemorate our brothers and sisters who died and who are still in purgatory. The memorial keeps them alive until now. Death has no power to stop or to break that connection. That is why we pray for the souls in purgatory, because even when life ends, the communion among God’s people endures. Death reminds us that absence is the new way of being present.