The reality of our mortality - The Branches, Nov. 3, 2026

After this I had a vision of a great multitude, which no one could count, from every nation, race, people, and tongue. They stood before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. (Revelation 7:9)

November 3, 2026

Hello Everyone —

What a wonderful way to focus as communities of faith last Sunday — celebrating all the holy women and men of every time and place.

The Preface of the Mass on the feast of All Saints reads:

For today by your gift we celebrate the festival of your city,
the heavenly Jerusalem, our mother,
where the great array of our brothers and sisters
already gives you eternal praise.
Towards her, we eagerly hasten
as pilgrims advancing by faith,
rejoicing in the glory bestowed upon
those exalted members of the Church
through whom you give us, in our frailty,
both strength and good example.

And then yesterday, we celebrated the Church suffering — all of the faithful departed.

A story from life:

One morning, a man woke up to find that, according to the local newspaper, he had died. Actually, the man’s older brother had died, but the editors ran the wrong obituary.

The man read the obituary, fascinated to have the unique opportunity to find out what the world thought of him. But what he read made him shudder.

The writer of the piece reported the passing of a “great industrialist” who had amassed a considerable fortune from manufacturing weapons of unimaginable destruction. His reputation as a callous employer and ruthless businessman was also chronicled. The newspaper ended its story calling him a “merchant of death.”

The man was stunned. This was not how he wanted to be remembered. From that moment on, he devoted his time and fortune to works of philanthropy, justice and peace.

Today, the man who had “died” in an erroneous newspaper story is not remembered as the inventor of dynamite, but as the founder of the prestigious Nobel Prizes. Alfred Nobel would later say, “Every man ought to have a chance to correct his epitaph in midstream and write a new one.” When Nobel actually died in 1896, his obituary hailed him as “a humanitarian and a visionary.”

The celebration of All Souls on November 2 — and throughout the month of November — confronts us with the reality of our own mortality and the preciousness of the time we are given. Accepting the harsh fact that every one of us will, one day, pass from this life to the life of God should make us look at our lives with a vision grounded in the love of God.

Such an outlook can and should temper our fear of death, assuring us that we live always in the hope of Easter’s empty tomb, that every step we take in our life’s darkest night is guided by the light of the Risen Lord.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

As I do for you, please pray for me,

Most Reverend Jeffrey S. Grob
Archbishop of Milwauke