“He Is Not God of the
Dead But of the Living”.
(Lk 20:38)
Dear Sisters and Brothers
in Christ,
There are three often
asked questions to which people for generations have tried to find acceptable
answers. They are: one, where did man
come from?; two, for what purpose does man live on earth?; and three, where
will man go after he dies?
Some believe that man has
come from nowhere and nothing will be left after his death. Others think that
the problem of how to enjoy life here on earth is more important than that of
whether or not there is an after-life.
The Holy Bible teaches
that man was created by God in His image.
Man has a body made of the clay of the ground and a soul taken from God’s
breath of life. God also assigned man to
take care of the earth so as to make it a home for both humans and other
creatures. Man was supposed to live
forever in friendship with God.
Unfortunately, man committed sin by breaking God’s law. Because of sin, man was divided from God,
from neighbor, from creation and has lost unity and peace in his heart. Among the evil consequences of sin the most
frightening for man is death, as Saint Paul wrote in his Letter to the Romans,
Chapter 6, verse 23, “The wages of sin is death.”
Death, therefore, has
caused man anxiety, anguish and fear because nobody can escape death.
Anxiety, anguish and fear
increase all the more when man thinks that he after death will lose
everything. No longer can he see his
loved ones. In vain will his achievement
be. Forever will he himself disappear without
any trace left.
Fear of death has forced
many to lose their dignity as a human person.
Fear of death has even weakened or broken their faith in God.
But the Word of God has
something new, important and necessary to tell us this Sunday with regard to
how to deal with suffering and death.
The First Reading reports
the heroic deaths of the mother and her seven sons who disregarding torture and
death threat of the king kept their faith in God in the sure hope that the
Powerful Author of life would give them back the same precious gift.
In the Second Reading
Saint Paul encourages Christians to stand firm in times of trials and
temptations, confident that God’s grace is strong enough to sustain and protect
them from the forces of evil.
The Gospel tells us how
our Lord Jesus Christ emphasized the truth about the rising again of the dead
and about the much beautiful life of those faithful to God’s laws.
We Christians believe in
Christ Who died and rose again to defeat the power of sin and free us from fear
of death.
For us Christians it is
life, not death, that matters. We have
to live in accordance with God’s laws in order to well prepare for the next
life. Life will continue right after death.
Life will be changed into
a new form worthy of a new earth and a new heaven at the Resurrection when
Christ our Lord comes again in glory.
These are assuring truths
by our Lord Jesus Christ Who introduced Himself in John Chapter 11, verses from
25 to 26, “I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me, even if
he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”
Simply because, “God is
not God of the dead but of the living.”
Amen.
Fr. Francis Nguyen, O.P.
