Reflection on the Mystery of Death and the Beginning of a New Life

The day of the dead must be a day of prayer, the Christian homage to our deceased loved ones, and also a day of reflection on the mystery of death and resurrection that mark our lives.

The presence of the Church in the moment of mourning and pain leads to Christian solidarity.  (...) Thus Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me even if I am dead will live" (Jn 11:24). In another passage, he said, "Whoever believes in me will not die forever" (Jn 11:26).

 

We die to live

In fact, Jesus is saying that we are not born to die. But we die for a living. Therefore, death, for those who have faith, does not interrupt life. It is not a passing illusion. It is not the destruction of life. But it is the encounter with the fullness of life that is in God. For God created us for a full life and not for death. The deceased, who have departed in the Lord rest forever in peace, joy, in the conviviality of angels, saints, in the full and eternal happiness that we find only in communion with God.

For the Christian, death is the beginning of a new life, always accomplishing what he had hoped for and has not always achieved in this world. It is the crowning of life. It is the perfect and fully human and Christian realization. From the Christian perspective, death becomes blessed because it is our liberation. Thus says the prayer of the preface of the dead: "O Who believes in you, life is not taken away, but our mortal body is transformed and broken, and in heaven, an imperishable body and to those who believe in death is grieved, the promise of immortality comforts us".

 

Eternal life begins here

However, we must remember that eternal life begins here and now. Whoever lives with God in this world will live with Him forever. Whoever has Christ in his life will have him in the afterlife. Whoever lives in love and harmony with his brothers and sisters will continue in the hereafter in the fullness of love. Whoever lives a life reconciled and pacified with his brothers will also continue in the hereafter in perfect reconciliation. Therefore, the time to love, to forgive, to serve, to spread good is now. Do not leave for tomorrow what you can do today! Yes, tomorrow may not happen! At the moment of the final encounter with God, it is worth nothing money, success, prestige, beauty, fame, etc. But what counts are our good works and the righteousness of action. We will carry in our luggage, the good we do throughout our lives. Especially for the poorest. For thus the divine sentence tells us: "Come, blessed of my Father, receive the inheritance of the kingdom that prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Because I was hungry and you fed me. I was sure to drink. I was naked and you dressed me" (Mt,25,34). This biblical passage reveals to us that the criterion for our judgment will be the exercise of love and charity for others, especially the excluded who are the poorest among the poor.

Sociologists today call them "leftover mass", that is, they are out of the feast of life. We urgently need to meet them as brothers in this world before we have to face them as our judges before God! Therefore, the needy poor who knocks on our door, in addition to testing our Christian charity, can become a channel or instrument of our salvation. Frederick Ozanan said: "We need to look at the poor as someone who is equal to or greater than us. Because it endures what we cannot endure: hunger, misery, disease, homelessness and material comfort."

 

Work of mercy

Pope Francis, on the occasion of the year of mercy, taught that: "The last work of spiritual mercy asks to pray for the living and the deceased. To this can also be added the last work of corporal mercy, which invites us to bury the dead. The latter may seem like a strange request; and instead, in some parts of the world living under the scourge of war, with bombings that day and night sow fear and innocent victims, this work is sadly current. The Bible has a fine example by the way: that of old Tobit who, risking his own life, buried the dead despite the king's prohibition (cf. Tb 1:17-19; 2:2-4). Today too, there are those who risk their lives to give grave to the poor victims of wars.

Therefore, this work of bodily mercy is not far from our daily demand. And it makes us think about what happens on Good Friday, when the Virgin Mary, with John and some women, were at the cross of Jesus. After his death comes Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man, a member of the Sanhedrin, but who became a disciple of Jesus, offers him his new tomb, dug into the rock. He went personally to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus: a true work of mercy done with great courage (cf. Mt 27:57-60). For Christians, a grave is an act of piety, but also an act of great faith. We place in the tomb the body of our loved ones, with the hope of his resurrection (cf. 1 Cor 15:1-34).

 

A gift to the deceased

Let us not forget that for the dead, it is not enough to offer flowers, candles, and visits to the Cemeteries. These are signs of something deeper, that is: we need to offer prayers, supplications of forgiveness, sacrifices, and alms to the poor (charity). It is these Christian gestures that please God and return to our lives in the form of blessing, joy, and spiritual comfort.

Holy Mass, a Eucharistic sacrifice, is undoubtedly the greatest gift to the deceased. The Church offers the Eucharistic sacrifice of Christ's Passover and raises to God her prayers and suffrage for the salvation of all the defunct faithful, for their souls must be purified to be received into heaven among the saints elected.

 

May the souls of all the faithful deceased, by the infinite goodness and mercy of God, rest forever in the light of Christ!