Resurrecting the Resurrection

This is a summary of a Fr. Gerry Creedon homily delivered at St. Charles on November 7, 2004

"It is my choice to die by the hands of men with the hope God gives of being raised up by him." 2 Macc 7:14
"He is not God of the dead but of the living, for to him all are alive." Luke 20:38

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE between the Pharisees and the Sadducees?" he asked. "The Pharisees believe in the resurrection, while the Saducees do not, and that is why they are sad, you see!" The theme of resurrection is found in the book of the Maccabees and reinforced in Luke. The church raises up the hope of resurrection in the season of falling leaves, All Saints and All Souls as the liturgical year draws to the end time with the Feast of Christ the King.

Strange and awkward questions are raised about the next life. To whom will the widow of the seven brothers belong at the resurrection? Difficult questions continue to come forth.

At a recent Landings Group, a program for returning Catholics, a Catholic wanted to know how to respond to a Protestant friend's question. She had received a Mass card from some workmates that said, "We are praying that your mother will enter Heaven" She was a little irritated at the idea that these Catholics did not believe that her mother was saved already. I explained the teaching on Purgatory. Before we enter the beatific vision, the souls of the departed are purified of sin and selfishness. This teaching in the past was often presented as a lengthy period in a separate place. Of course concepts of time and space can only be used analogously of eternal life.

Just like the Sadducees' questions about afterlife in this Sunday's gospel, we can become fixated on our own preoccupations and anxieties and miss the main point: resurrection.

I remember my old friend Monsignor Quinn in the months before he died worrying: "Gerry, I do not think I have done enough." I would answer, "You have spent your life building the church here in Blessed Sacrament, if you have not done enough, there is no hope for any of us?" He would say, "I hope God is as kind and merciful to me as you make him out to be!"

My mother came to a more benign assessment of my father's prospects.

I have been afflicted by a personality defect: I lose my keys and other important personal effects. This is a characteristic I inherit from both parents. They spent a lot of time looking for one another's earrings and wallets. Six months following my father's death my mother abstractedly announced one day, "I am sure your father is in Heaven." We wanted to know, "Why are you so sure?" She answered, "In the past I used to pray to St Anthony when I lost things. Since your father died I pray to him, and he is much faster!"

Remember in the old days our priests were dressed in white for All Saints and in black vestments for All Souls? The color change in recent decades, wearing white for both, reflects the shift in attitude among Catholics toward a more trusting assessment of God's provident care at the end. Our fixation on purgatory needs to yield to the bright promise of immortality.

Let us lay aside the Sadducees' questions and the niggling fears that plague us and join in the joyous Christian proclamation of Resurrection.