On 2 November, throughout the Catholic Church, we remember and pray for those who have died. We are living in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed so many of our brothers and sisters all over the world.

As a tribute to all these loved ones, Jesuits José María Olaizola (Spain) and Cristóbal Fones (Chile) have written and set to music a hymn:“The Last Door”. Listen and meditate as you pray for your departed ones.

This time of COVID has brought death to the forefront. As we remember the deceased, and give thanks for their lives, we Jesuits also pray with so many of our companions who in these two years, as a result of the pandemic, have already taken that last step. We pray that their lives, and those of so many men and women whom we love, may be eternal in God.

The last door

To die is to prepare the final feast.
We remember so many who have departed,
and knowing that it is to your embrace that they are going,
no song remains except silence.
Maybe now their absence invades us.
Our eyes shine as we recall their gestures,
gratitude and memory dance within us
for all that they once gave us.

We mourn, because that is the longing of those who love,
because death moves us, that mystery
that opens the path of another life,
even as this cycle of time comes to a close.
Our finitude is a promise,
and it is also a battle with loss.
Strange this horizon of hope,
when “goodbye” enfolds a “we´ll meet again”.

Their departure wakens questions in us.
The end confronts us, like a mirror,
for we all will cross through that door,
and passing the threshold,
we will discover that You were already awaiting us
and that life was simply the gateway to heaven.
We will sing anew, and forever,
with those who today have left us with their memory.