Word to the Wise
Tuesday, November 11, 2025 - Tuesday in the 32th Week in Ordinary Time
[Wis 2:23—3:9 and Luke 17:7-10][T]he souls of the just are in the hands of God, and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace. For if before men, indeed, they be punished, yet is their hope full of immortality. [Wisdom]
NOVEMBER 11 ST. MARTIN OF TOURS
The belief in life after death through resurrection from death which we Catholics believe was, in Jesus' time, a fairly new idea. Jewish thought was divided as the New Testament shows in the incident involving the woman married to seven brothers. The Sadducees who posed the question did not believe in the resurrection of the body because they did not think there was any reference to it in the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament - the only scripture they recognized. Jesus replied to their question and referred to life after death. [Luke 20:27-40] The Book of Wisdom and 2 Maccabees 12:46 reflect the view of the Pharisees. Jesus' own resurrection from the dead answered the question definitively for our faith.
The passage from the Book of Wisdom is often read at funerals and on the feast of All Souls, which we celebrated recently. The combination of our understanding of human nature and life after death is manifested in our belief in the state of being called "purgatory." We pray for our deceased loved ones who, like us, may at the time of death have still needed some "purification" to prepare for eternal bliss. The nature of this purification is unknown, despite some vivid visions about it in various writings like St. Catherine of Genoa. We must leave it to God's mercy. What is clear, however, is that all those who die believing in Christ will possess eternal life. [John 6:39] The souls in purgatory have that sure hope. The Book of Wisdom offers us, the living, that comfort today. AMEN