My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian witnesses and writers in reflecting on life, encounters, and various situations, in a desire to enhance our understanding of what it means to be a missionary disciple of Jesus Christ at the service of the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.
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There is life after death... but what is it like?
As Catholic and Orthodox Christians, as well as the various "Protestant, Evangelical, Baptist, or Pentecostal" denominations; we all believe that human life continues beyond death into eternity with God or away from God. Our eternal destiny depends a great deal on our own will, on whether or not we are willing to accept God's love, and to accept his love on his terms.
It is an indication of this faith in the eternal life that God wants to give us that we pray for the dead. Why do we pray for the dead? It's just in case they might have a little bit of "unfinished business" to attend to... any hesitation to let themselves be embraced by God's brilliant and intense love... so our prayers and offerings of Holy Mass are an encouragement and spiritual help for them. If they don't need it, then of course they will simply pass it on to some other poor soul who needs it.
What prompts me to write is the awesome mystery of what happens to us when our spirit leaves behind our mortal body, much as we put aside our clothing when we prepare for sleep at night. Over the years I've been disturbed to discover that many people don't really believe that anything happens to us when we die or understand it, or if they do, they don't much know what to do about it. Equally serious is the fact that people not only consider ending their life prematurely, before their natural time to die, but in some cases actually take measures to end their life of have someone end it for them.
Canada is now almost leading the world in extending "MAiD" - medical aid in dying - to almost anyone who wants it. It began with allowing it for people just about at the end of their life anyway but who are in great pain or suffering, physically, or psychologically, or both. Gradually, the barriers have been pushed further and further back, until it is conceivable that one day anyone will be able to ask to be killed just because they are tired of living. This is pretty scary....
What is truly sad and tragic is that, in all likelihood, most of those who have asked for MAiD, or who are planning to do so, probably wouldn't do it if they knew that someone cared for them, and that their condition is not a burden others are unwilling to bear with them; in solidarity with them out of love. We all need to be reassured at times that we are loved; this is our human condition, to be uncertain.
I suppose if I am miserable to everybody during my lifetime, there may not be anybody willing to show me that they care for me when I become terminally or seriously ill. Still, a truly loving person may still show that they care even for a miserable, grouchy, uncaring, hard-hearted person. Some people truly are that loving; their life is so full of love, that they have to pour it out on others.
What is truly evil and may actually be criminal is the possibility that health care institutions may look upon killing people as economically advantageous... to get rid of people who are suffering and lingering in order to free up their bed and room in the hospital or other institution.
I don't know how you were raised - with faith or not - or what kind of life you have lived, or what sort of challenges you have faced, what pain and suffering you have endured, but still, it won't hurt for me to share a few thoughts with you, and who knows, you may find them helpful.
Our mortal flesh, our human life in the body, is amazingly resilient... just think of all that we go through in life and survive; as your oved ones may have done their whole life long. Yet, when it comes right down to it, our life is also quite fragile. When enough pressure is put on our life, it simply stops.... All that we have become, on the inside, is what we call the soul or spirit. When we die... what happens to us then?
Many if not most scientists today, as brilliant as they are, deny the existence of our soul simply because they can't "observe" it, measure it, demonstrate or "prove" that it exists. They track all of our speaking, behaving, and acting to activity - the firing of neurons - in the brain. So for them, whatever doesn't track to the brain and show the firing of neurons isn't real and doesn't exist.
However, other scientists - especially neuroscientists - have begun to demonstrate that some of who we are and what we do is not at all related to activity in our brain... it remains quiet and "dark" with no synapses firing; yet a lot is going on inside us. They have observed that when we decide NOT to do something, the brain is quiet and dark. THAT decision doesn't come from our brain but from elsewhere outside our flesh. We who believe know where such decisions come from... they come from our will, our mind, our soul.
It is in our soul that God comes to dwell with us in Spirit. God our Father created our soul in the image and likeness of God... our soul is spirit as God is spirit, as the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are spirit. They are divine spirit and we are human spirit. Our soul has an "empty place" deep within us that God designed for Him to come and dwell within us. We are most fully alive, most fully human, most fully ourselves when we welcome God within us. That is why Holy Communion is such an awesome gift, a priceless gift.
So, where is your departed loved one now, their soul, their spirit, all that they came to BE by the time they drew their last breath on this Earth? The Bible tells us that God receives our soul when it must leave the body behind. Our soul is, in a way, naked or unclothed anymore with its flesh, and in his goodness God provides a "heavenly habitation" for the soul while it must wait for the FINAL RESURRECTION when God will raise up our mortal bodies to be like his own in glory. If you are interested you will find many quotes from the Bible about this HERE.
So we have God's word on this... nothing is lost when we die... because all that we have become is precious in God's eyes and He welcomes us into his radiant presence to share eternal life with God, the Most Holy Trinity. We have trouble understanding who and what God is because God is so different.... One single Divine Being who is so full of life that there are actually Three Divine Persons living in intimate community, family, unity and communion of love - the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Father sent the Son and the Son accepted to go, to come down among us when Mary replied to the Archangel Gabriel: "I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word." Luke's Gospel chapter one verse 38. That's when the Son took on flesh and became Jesus.
We celebrate that moment every year on March 25th, the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. That's coming up again in this New Year 2024, just next March 25th. Happy Feast Day!
Allow me to close with a suggestion. All the above being true, you can continue to be "in communion" with your departed loved one in the spirit, that is, deep within yourself. We're talking about deeper than feelings, deeper than thoughts, way down deep at the centre of who you are, where God comes to be with you... it's in that place that we taste the goodness of God, that we know we are loved, that we know we are united to those we love and can never be separated from them... regardless of how we may "feel".
This "communion of saints" is too deep, too mysterious to capture or put into words, really, and our mind cannot grasp it nor control it, but we can gently allow ourselves to enter into it. It is the Holy Spirit who carries us there and who instills divine peace into us, no matter what may be going on up on the surface of our awareness... loss, grief, fear, regrets, guilt, anxiety, concern, desperation... and all sorts of "negative" thoughts and emotions... or even the positive ones... peace, love, hope, faith, consolation, joy, enthusiasm.... All of these of which we "are aware" happen, we could say, "on the surface" of our lives. God "moves" within our soul "in the depths".
We are complex beings living on many levels and dimensions all at the same time, and it's okay. We don't have to understand it all and we certainly don't need to have it all "under control". Life is an adventure to be lived, not a problem to be solved.
So, if you have recently lost a loved one who has died and left this mortal existence, my sincere sympathies on your loss, and please know that every day we pray for the departed souls and their intentions and all your intentions as well every time we approach the Altar for Holy Mass....
Peace to you all and your families, and may you have a peaceful entry into the Season of Lent in just four weeks. May the Word of God which we will hear during the next couple of weeks bring you much consolation and hope.
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My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian witnesses and writers in reflecting on life, encounters, and various situations, in a desire to enhance our understanding of what it means to be a missionary disciple of Jesus Christ at the service of the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.
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© 2004-2024 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC
© 2004-2024 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
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