TOGETHER
INTO ETERNITY.
COMMEMORATION OF ALL THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED.
YEAR A
Sunday, November 2, 2008.
(Isaiah 25:6-9) (Romans 6:3-9) (John 6:37-40)
TOGETHER INTO ETERNITY.
Today the Church commemorates all the faithful departed, all those who,
while on earth, lived in the spirit of the Lord Jesus.
The faithful departed continue to live in Jesus and by reason of our
own participation in the life of Jesus we remain united with them.
The Gospel this Sunday begins
with a call to unity with Jesus: "Everything
that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone
who comes to me... And, this is the will of the one who sent me, that
I should not lose anything of what he gave me... Everyone who looks
upon the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life"
(John 6:37-40, 47).
It is the most fundamental belief of Christians that Jesus was raised
from the dead and was able to destroy death by the merits of the way
he lived.
We are to live the way Jesus lived.
A person lives the way Jesus did whenever he becomes the servant of
all, whenever he blesses those who curse him, pray for those who maltreat
him, do good to those who hate him, whenever he gives without expecting
anything in return (Luke 6:27-35)), whenever he denounces evil, proclaims
the truth, gives his life for others, treats his fellow human beings
as equal, as children of God, whenever he seeks peace and understanding.
Those who live the way Jesus did, build life for eternity, just like
he did.
On the contrary, those who fails to live as Jesus
did(1), will be gradually destroying
the life that leads to eternal life, they will be building death; and
when the time of physical death comes, they will find themselves empty
of life.
The prophet Isaiah
stresses the fact that "God will destroy
death for ever" and we can "rejoice and be glad"
(Isaiah 25:8-9). When man no longer inflicts death unto another man,
he has been freed from death, from sin. The destruction of man by man
is the core of sin(2). Isaiah announces the triumph
of Jesus over death and sin in the cross.
Saint Paul proclaims
the triumph of Jesus over death, "We
know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer
has power over him", and if we, human beings "have
grown into union with him through a death like his, we shall also be
united with him in the resurrection" (Romans 6:3, 9).
This Sunday, as we commemorate the day of all our faithful departed,
let us continue to grow in the faith that the Lord Jesus has gained
eternal life for us, and that we together are
walking toward eternity.
_______________________________________________________
Footnotes.
(1) Failing to live the life of Jesus means living
in a manner which is contrary to the way Jesus lived, i.e. turning our
fellow human beings into our slaves, inflicting evil for evil, cursing
for cursing, maltreatment for maltreatment, hatred for hatred; or serving
only those who serve us; or failing to denounce evil; or promoting half-truths;
or being indifferent to the suffering of our fellow human beings; or
promoting war, destruction; or promoting economic, social inequality;
or failing to see that we human beings are all children of God.
(2) The death that Jesus destroys is the death inflicted
by man upon man, in other words, the death inflicted by sin upon man.
Biological death, on the other hand, as a natural stage of earthly life,
has nothing to do with sin.
