All Soul's Day

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110214.cfm  (This homily is based off of the same readings suggested on the USCCB Website)

 

The famous comedian, Jerry Seinfeld, once did a stand-up piece in which he talked about human fears. He said that a survey done back in the 90's found that people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Number two! That means that for the average person, if you're at a funeral, you would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy. I don't know what that says about me: I often have to meet with families at the time of a death and speak at the funeral!

I don't know whether those are the real top fears of people or if that was just part of Seinfeld's shtick, but we don't have to go through all the trouble of a survey poll to see that many people do have a fear of death. I think that it's fair to say that this fear comes from a fear of the unknown. We really know so very little about what happens after death. Christ tells us about Heaven and Hell several different times in the Gospels. We can also find references in other Scriptures to Purgatory where we our souls are purified to get us ready for Heaven. However, these references provide hardly any details of what we can expect. We know Heaven is eternal paradise and that Hell is eternal suffering, but we still don't know what that really means. What is eternal paradise? What is eternal suffering? Will we be able to recognize our loved ones in Heaven? What exactly are we going to say or do for all of eternity? It's no wonder so many people are afraid of death when we know so little about life after death.

When we read Scriptures, like those we just heard today, we can see that God's intention is not that any of us should fear death. On the contrary, God wants us to be at peace about death. This peace is gained not by knowing exactly what life after death is going to be like, but rather by having faith in God who seeks to bring all who have faith in Him to eternal life.

Our first reading from the Book of Wisdom speaks eloquently about the difference between those of the world who fear death as opposed to those who have faith in God. King Solomon, who is given credit for writing the Book of Wisdom, says that “The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them”. To the foolish however, that is, those who have no faith, death is seen only as an affliction and utter destruction. In fact, notice that it is only the foolish who even refer to this “passing away” as death. For the just and those who believe, it simply means that they are with God and at peace. Solomon explains that even if there is suffering for a time in this life, blessings will follow in the hereafter. I think it is fair to say that those who are called “foolish” in this reading are the same people in this world who fear death the most. Not only does this reading teach us that God takes care of His faithful ones, but it also reminds us that if we have any fear of death then we must work to increase our own faith and trust in God.

In seminary, we were all expected to spend some time volunteering in some sort of ministry. One such ministry involved visiting people in nursing homes and hospitals. Often, this included working with hospice patients and their families and with families who had just lost a loved one. I can say today that this type of work scared me the most. It was a fear of my own mortality and a fear of not knowing how to help those people through the grieving process. I remember talking to my Mom about this fear of death. To try to help me she told me about an experience she had when she was just five years old. She told me about how her grandmother had come to live with her family. On school days, my mom would come home for lunch and see her grandmother. One day she came home to find her grandmother slouched in her chair, her arms hanging on the sides and her prayerbook lying on the floor. She had died there. Understandably, this frightened her a bit and she ran to her neighbor's to get help. But my Mom said that she learned something very important that day: that death can be peaceful. My Mom saw that her grandmother's face was peaceful in death. Her prayerbook had fallen from her hands: She had been praying when she died. Thanks to this and other accounts that people have told me about loved one's who have died in peace, I am less afraid of death and much more at peace, knowing that God cares for His people.

A big determining factor in how a person views death and the afterlife is the culture that he or she grows up in. In Mexico and other Latin American countries and communities, November 1^st and 2^nd are a time to celebrate Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. It is a time to remember family members who have died. This isn't about only remembering that funny thing that Grandpa said or those fun times we had with Mom. This isn't about mourning their passing either. This is about celebrating the lives of those family members and the festivities include doing some of the things they enjoyed doing in life. Lot's of food, music, dancing, and decorations featuring skeletons and skulls are a big part of the celebration. A big part of the Dia de los Muertos is that the dead are still an integral and active part of the family. It is on the Day of the Dead that they wake from their slumber and join in the festivities. Death is simply a part of life, but not the end.

Even with our Christian faith helping us to see that God takes care of the souls of the just, we may at times still feel some fear around death. We may fear losing a loved one for instance, or we may still fear what our own death will be like. I think that is still to be expected. The point is that despite those fears, it is our faith in God and our hope in eternal life that win the day.

Jesus tells us in the Gospel that He was sent to do the will of the Father, and that the will of the Father is that those who believe in Christ will have eternal life and will be raised on the last day. It is in that promise that we have our hope for eternal life. Fear not, for we are in the hands of God.