by Fr. Tommy Lane
God is God “of the living, for to him all are alive.” (Luke 20:38) These words from Jesus are consoling as we pray this month for all who have passed from this life. They are not dead; they are alive with God in the next life. Jesus said, “they are children of God, being children of the resurrection.” (Luke 20:36) It was the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection nor in the soul continuing after death, who received this teaching from Jesus on life after death when they posed a hypothetical question to him. Thanks to them and their debate with Jesus, we have these words of Jesus. The Sadducees, even though they did not believe in life after death, put their question to Jesus as if life after death would be like this life. Instead, Jesus made it clear that life after death is not like this life but is radically different.
Those who have passed from this life “are children of God, being children of the resurrection.” (Luke 20:36) God is God “of the living, for to him all are alive.” (Luke 20:38) Those who have passed from this life, see the love of God much more clearly than we do. They experience the love of God in a way that we cannot comprehend now, and even if they are still waiting in purification before entering heaven, already they surely know the love and mercy of God more clearly than ever before. They see clearly that Jesus took on our flesh out of love for us, and that as he did so he knew his earthly life would end in the most brutal way known at that time, crucifixion. They see that this love of God for us in Jesus, in his death for us, is eternal and they enjoy this love of God for them in the next life in a way we cannot understand now. Those who are in heaven are in the love of God. During this month we pray especially for those who are still on the way to arrive at their destination: the love of God in heaven. Those who have already reached the destination, the love of God in heaven, know and experience the love of God like we cannot comprehend or imagine. Although we miss them, we have this huge consolation.
On other occasions, Jesus told us more about the next life. Baptism is necessary:
No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. (John 3:5)
The Eucharist is already now sharing in eternal life:
Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. (John 6:53-54)
In heaven, we will be with Jesus:
In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. (John 14:2-3)
John, in his first letter, has these beautiful words on the next life:
Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2)
This perspective on life, that after death we will be in the love of God in heaven, with Jesus, changes everything. It changed everything for the Jewish people undergoing a persecution two centuries before Jesus as we heard in our first reading. They were willing to undergo martyrdom because even though they would be killed because of their fidelity to their beliefs, they knew that they would have eternal life. This perspective on life, that after death we will be in the love of God, with Jesus, changes everything. Instead of getting lost in the things of this world, it helps us keep a sense of perspective and proportion about life. During this time of secularization, we do not despair because we know that God is in charge and evil will not triumph. Even if the world around us is collapsing, it helps us keep our heads high because the suffering of this life is temporary but the love of God in the next life is eternal. Since we know our destination, the love of God in heaven, it would not make sense to live as if we are not loved by God. So, we want our lives to reflect back to God his love for us and our love for him. Since we know the love of God for us, we do not want to displease God but in everything we do or say or think, we want to love God back. In this way, we will already be sharing even now in the love of God that we hope to share in fully in the next life.
Those who have passed from this life are alive with God in the next life. Jesus said they are children of God and children of the resurrection. (Luke 20:36) God is God “of the living, for to him all are alive.” (Luke 20:38)
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2022
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Thirty-eEcond Sunday of Year C
The Resurrection: they are like angels 2010
Our faith helps us to endure suffering
Related Homilies: The Resurrection: the glorious future awaiting us
Belief in the Resurrection (excerpt of funeral homily)