November 2, 2009 at Saint Mark Church in Norman, OK
Wisdom 4:7-14 + Psalm 25 + 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 + John 11: 17-27
Today we are about something that uniquely Catholic.
To the best of my knowledge we are the only the only religious tradition that prays for the dead; a custom that springs from our profession of faith in the creed. We know from the earliest history that the Christian communities kept alive their relationships with those who had died by frequent respectful visits to their graves, by unique and long cherished traditions of remembrance and respect. All because we believe in communion, because we believe that tied that bind us do not unravel with death, that what binds us together is not these bodies we wear for a time, but the communion we share through Baptism.
And so, here we are gathered together because, as this Gospel text affirms, Jesus listens to the prayers of those who love him even though the response is at his own time and in his own way. And so we tell the story of Lazarus today as we have for generations for Lazarus is a symbol that death can not lock in its dark chambers those whom Jesus loves.
Throughout the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians, Paul struggles with this question: “How are the dead raised?” Paul never speaks of immortal souls, but always of the resurrection of the body, affirming that what is raised is a “spiritual body.” We affirm the same thing in the creed. Remember how it goes? “I believe in the resurrection of the body……” we say, Sunday after Sunday.
Our faith is not in the immortality of a soul, but in the resurrection of the body. What Paul teaches us is that the body is not simply flesh and blood, but rather it is the body that gives continuity to life through history and allows us humans to relate to each other. Body is what makes community. I am coming to discover that calling this day: “All Souls Day” is an unfortunate description, but I am realistic enough at my age to know that I don’t stand a chance of changing that custom, but it is poor one for describing what this day is all about.
We are not here to remember souls. We are here to remember people: people who have made a difference, people who have been linked to us by their body and are now part of our communion in God. We remember easily those who have given us our bodies, our mothers and our fathers grandparents and great-grandparents. We believe in the eternal life and the resurrection of the body…. in more simple terms, we believe that having been one with Christ through out body in Holy Communion, we shall be one with Christ forever.