From Dust To Resurrection

The search for the fountain of youth has not abated. If we turn on the TV, or pick up our favorite magazine, we are inundated with the many ways and methods of staying young forever. We are encouraged to buy a new face cream to “activate our youth proteins”. We hear how a glass of wine each day can extend our lives (true, we may also hear the next day about how it will speed our untimely demise.) We are encouraged to get rid of wrinkles with creams and lotions or even Botox injections, color our hair, grow back hair that has fallen out, tone up, and lose weight to look younger, take a certain vitamin or supplement to prolong our life. We are instructed on how to dress in a youthful fashion, and don’t forget the youthful appearance of white teeth. The little cross of ashes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday, on the other hand, reminds us. “Remember man that thou art dust and to dust thou shalt return.”

Lent is a good time to come to terms with the fact that we will all age and ultimately die. Our Church reminds us each year during Lent beginning with Ash Wednesday to keep our eyes on the real prize – Heaven. Keeping our bodies healthy and strong for a good run while we are here is certainly important in that our bodies were created by God and we are responsible for taking care of them. But, ultimately, it is our souls that demand the greatest care and should be taken care of and kept in tip-top shape. I do have to admit that I stand in awe of my peers that still run marathons. I am impressed with their energy, physical ability, and prowess. But I am more in awe of friends that have made their faith lives a priority (some have managed to accomplish both). They have made it a habit to get up for daily Mass, spend time in the Eucharistic chapel before Our Lord. They have framed their day in prayer, and even as they go about their daily activities have their hearts and minds on God. They emanate a quietness and peace that is sometimes missing in my life.

The day will come for all of us when our life on earth will end. Our bodies will be left here on earth and will be returned to dust. Our souls will live on. I have to admit one concern in this regard. We must not forget our brothers and sisters in Purgatory, that state of final purification that will cleanse our souls before they see God. Many people of other faiths believe that once we die we are immediately united with God, with no need to pray for the deceased. Our Catholic Catechism teaches: “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven”. CC1030. I recall hearing one particularly stirring homily at a funeral Mass where the faithful were firmly admonished to continue to pray for the deceased’s soul in purgatory. I remember glancing around a church packed with mourners and thinking how very happy this good woman must be to know that all of these people would continue to pray for her even after her earthly suffering had ended. When we suffer the loss of a loved one, we are left bereft and in sadness.

But, we must not let our loved ones be forgotten at their deaths. Their souls are still in existence and entering a new phase. We believe that they enter a place or state of purification before they come before God. We share a deep kinship with our departed loved ones. Death does not diminish that kinship nor remove our responsibility to those who have died. We can and must help them through this time of purification with the offering of our sufferings, our prayers, and our almsgiving. In turn, they (who so well remember the many trials and circumstances of their own lives on earth) can help us with their prayers and sufferings. Listen carefully at Mass to the Eucharistic prayer: “Remember our brothers and sisters who have gone to their rest in the hope of rising again; bring them and all the departed into the light of your presence.” There is no better way to pray for our beloved deceased than remembering them at Mass. Look up and see them near you, kneeling in prayer, heads bowed. I recall a moment many years ago, I knelt at Mass during the Eucharistic prayer, remembering my departed father. For just a moment I could feel him near me, kneeling in the pew. He wore his green winter parka, he knelt with his back resting on the bench, head down. He held a song book. I could hear him singing.

The Mystical Body of Christ is real. We who are baptized are all members. Death does not remove us from life in that Mystical Body or connection to each other. Just as our Easter liturgical celebration of Christ’s Resurrection begins after our sacrificial time of Lent, so will we and those we love enter into the presence of God after our time of purification in Purgatory. “We believe that the souls of all who die in Christ’s grace…are the People of God beyond death. On the day of resurrection, death will be definitively conquered, when these souls will be reunited with their bodies.” (CC1052) We will all die no matter how hard we try to turn back the years. But, there is a greater prize to be won, Heaven. We need to keep our souls in shape for this great race, our eyes on this great prize. As St. Paul says, “Race to win.” (I Cor. 9:24)

My Father, Jim Morley
by my sister, the artist Peggy Selander