Father Timothy MarcoeDeath. It’s a topic that many people don’t like to talk about. And yet, despite this reality, think about all the times at Mass that we speak about this final reality. Today alone, that word, in one form or another, is mentioned at least 13 times! Now death can seem like a scary thought. But God doesn’t want us to be afraid – most especially because Jesus has conquered the grave by His rising from the dead on Easter Sunday!
In our second reading today, we heard from St. Paul in his Letter to the Romans. And he says, “Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” Interesting phrase, St. Paul – “baptized into the death of Jesus”. But what does it mean?
Well, let’s think back to the day of our very own baptism. Now, we might not exactly remember it, since many of us were baptized as infants or young children. But on the day of our baptism, each of us became a disciple of Jesus Christ for the very first time. Now, a disciple is another word for a student – one who follows a teacher and his or her teaching and example. So, it makes sense that we disciples do as our Master did: Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, and so we’re baptized too.
But it goes much deeper than this. As St. Paul writes, “the wages of sin is death”. This means that disobedience to God’s commands has consequences, and sin leads to death – just like He warned Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. And this makes sense. While venial sin is a wounding of our relationship with our heavenly Father, mortal sin is the destruction of that relationship. But without a relationship with God, who is the source of all life, there can be no life. And so, we believe that the result of sin is death. God never created death in the beginning when He made Adam and Eve. But because of their sin, death entered the world as a punishment.
Now, all this might sound like bad news – and it is! But remember the Good News – God loves us unconditionally. He doesn’t want us to be separated from Him – neither in this life, nor in the life to come. And so, God Himself becomes one of us. And although the Son of God did not sin, by virtue of becoming man, God would now face death. And on the cross, Jesus took upon Himself the punishment of death, resulting from our sin. But as God, death could not hold Him bound. And so, three days later, when He rose from the dead, He put an end to that punishment forever.
But Jesus did this nearly 2,000 years ago. So, how is it that we now receive the benefit of what He did for us? Well, it starts with baptism. As St. Paul again teaches, it’s precisely in baptism where we die to that old life of sin, and we begin our new life in Christ. In the sacrament of baptism, we personally enter into Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Just look at the symbolism of the sacrament: We lower the person down into the baptismal font. And after burying him or her, by pouring the water three times, the person is lifted up from the font as a new disciple of Jesus. And our eternal separation from God, caused by sins, was overcome by Christ. And as a result, the promise of eternal life was made to us. Hallelujah!
But what happens when we sin after baptism – because we unfortunately do? Well, the Lord has already provided for us. Remember, He loves us so much and doesn’t want us to ever be separated from Him in sin. And so, He has given the Church the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession, so that the one perfect sacrifice of Jesus on the cross can again wash away our sins, and the promise of eternal life is restored to us. Our heavenly Father never gives up on us!
But what happens if someone dies, having committed sins that were not yet forgiven by God? Well again, He loves us so much, and doesn’t want us to ever be separated from Him – are you picking up on a theme here? When a person, who has turned away from God through venial sins, dies, he or she is not yet ready to be in the presence of the all-perfect God, who is all good and all loving. And so in God’s mercy, He has given us purgatory.
Now we’ve all heard of purgatory before. But most of us don’t know much about it, and, we don’t talk a lot about it either – kind of like it is with death. But as Catholics, we believe that when someone dies and is neither completely separated from God through mortal sin, nor is completely ready to be with Him because of venial sin, he or she must pass through purgatory on their way to heaven.
But what happens there? Well, in purgatory we’re purged of our sins and our attachment to sinful things. We’ve already been saved by Christ, but we’re not yet ready for the glory of heaven and to see God face to face. Think of it this way: through baptism, we have become silverware, all beautiful and shiny. But sin tarnishes that lovely glow. And so, before it can be pulled out to use on fancy occasions, it has to be polished. Polishing takes effort, it’s work, and it’s not much fun. Well, purgatory is a lot like this. It’s often described as a time of suffering, because in purgatory we are letting go of sinful ways and attitudes so that we can fully embrace God in heaven. But all souls in purgatory will, one day, come to the wedding feast of the Lamb in heaven.
And so today, as we celebrate All Souls’ Day, we remember all those who have gone before us in death. But, we do more than just remember them – we also pray for them. We pray that they may soon be with God in the fullness of heaven. And we pray that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, which we celebrate at this Eucharist under the signs of bread and wine, may quickly bring them that eternal life promised to all those reborn again in Christ through baptism. God bless you.
(Father Marcoe is the pastor St. Francis Xavier Parish in Gettysburg.)
By Father Timothy D. Marcoe, Special to The Witness
