In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Who are we remembering on Remembrance Sunday? This observance, the Sunday following Veterans’ Day (formerly Armistice Day) began in England in response to the staggering casualties of the First World War. But the remembrance grows as time goes on: World War Two and the wars following have produced long lists of those who have given their lives in the service of their country. Five years ago our remembrance was sharpened by 9/11. This memorial crucifix next to the pulpit is dedicated to those victims, and now we include as well those who have died in Afghanistan, Iraq and other places in the war against terrorism.
This is the season following both All Saints and All Souls days. When we began the observance of Remembrance Sunday at Saint Thomas in 1998, it seemed good to include the departed “brethren, kinsfolk and benefactors” of our congregation who have given us our patrimony. Further, as in many churches in England, it seems right to extend the Sunday remembrance to all the faithful departed; that is, all souls. So this is an all-inclusive Requiem Mass, in which are folded many heartfelt sacrifices and losses, commended to the love and safekeeping of Almighty God.
Let us reflect on what the Church teaches about death and the departed.
First of all, the Church teaches the reality of death, which is reflected in the somber black of our beautiful requiem vestments. Death is not an illusion; it is a certainty. If this were a sin-free world, there would be no death. But ever since the Fall, “the wages of sin is death.” Sin is separation from God, and separation from God is lethal; mortality is our condition. The days of our age may be three-score years and ten or perhaps a little more, but then we are gone.
Both the Old Testament and the wisdom of the ancient Greeks envisioned a shadowy place for the spirits of the departed. The Jews called it Sheol; the Greeks, Hades. But one could hardly think of such abodes as the hope of immortal glory. The ancient Jews did, however, develop a hope of Resurrection at the end of time.
The death of Jesus Christ, the discovery of his empty tomb, and the manifesting of his Resurrection changed everything, forever. It brought the Jewish hope of Resurrection to fulfillment in time. In the words of Paul in today’s epistle: “Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”
The Gospel shows us that the condition of those who have died is literally an intermediate state. The apostle calls it “sleep” or “rest”, from which the dead will be awakened. And what an alarm clock that will be! “We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (I Cor 15:51-52) Then, in the words of today’s epistle, “And the dead in Christ will rise first; then we who are alive, who are left, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
We the living, and the departed, are in the meantime between Christ’s Resurrection and Christ’s Triumphal Return to judge the world. The faithful departed rest in Christ, in whose safekeeping they are purged and prepared for the “beatific vision” of God in heaven. We are in the Church Militant here on earth. The departed are in the Church Expectant on the other side of death, and they and we together await the full and final manifestation of the Church Triumphant in heaven.
In fact all the departed, at least all those who have truly sought and tried to live by truth and charity, all who have not closed themselves to the grace of God, all these belong to the people of God and therefore to Christ the Lord. They too will love his appearing. That is why we remember and pray for them as well, “those whose faith is known to God alone.” We pray that the good work which was begun in them in this life will be brought to perfection on the Day of Christ.
Let us bless the Lord, who has changed the Valley of the Shadow of Death into a place of peaceful hope and joyful anticipation. On the other side of death is most assuredly a “better place,” which opens out into a new heaven and a new earth, and a bright shining city of God. The city is full of wonderful saints, known and unknown. There are joyous reunions and amazing introductions awaiting us in heaven. Jesus has opened up this kingdom and shown us that there is nothing to fear, and everything to hope for, far beyond our imagining.
In the Name of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Amen.
