Whoever eats of this bread will live forever › Jn 6, 54.
A brave act of love …
The gentleman entered the funeral home and asked the owner, ‘Which is better: a metal or wooden coffin?’ The owner, keen to make a sale, replied: ‘Metal lasts longer, but wood is better for your health.’ Chests and health contradict each other. When you are healthy, you don’t need a chest. By the time a chest is necessary, health has long since deteriorated. No one can avoid the problems of aging, disease, and death. Since people are helpless and have no solution, they either ignore the problem, examine it superficially, or explore it thoroughly and deeply. The Church’s attitude is quite different, as it professes faith in the resurrection of the body and eternal life. This faith is based on the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, who said: ‘Whoever believes has eternal life’ (Jn 6:47). Through the eyes of faith, we see death not only as the end of earthly life, but also as an encounter with the love of God. When visiting the cemetery and remembering the deceased in prayer, faith is the only solution and hope.
In the Acts of the Apostles, we read the testimony of the Apostle Peter, who tells us that God did not leave Jesus in the earth but raised him from the dead (Acts 3:15). In another passage, he says: ‘You handed Jesus over to be crucified by the hands of the wicked, but God raised him from the dead and rescued him from the power of death’ (Acts 2:24). Thus, Christians understood the resurrection to be an act of God concerning Jesus Christ. God stood by His son, did not abandon Him, because Jesus had entrusted His entire life to God.
Thomas Aquinas (1227–1274) taught that the soul is the shaping force of the body; in other words, it creates a body for itself. Through resurrection, the soul regains its formative power and uses it to construct a glorified body. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe in the resurrection of the body when considering the glorified body rather than the body we have at present. The most straightforward answer to the question ‘Where will we be after death?’ is ‘With God!’ However, God is not present in the same way as we are, in a local or geographical sense. He is present by penetration — another way of being present. He does not need spatial coordinates to be with us. The soul is not an organ either, but a form that determines the whole. After death, we are part of the relationships with God that we cannot determine geographically.
Humans are connected and can communicate across vast distances, including oceans. They call each other and say, ‘I was just thinking about you.’ What causes a person to feel connected to another person, even when they are not in contact? This penetration of the spiritual world enables us to gain some understanding of where and how we will be in the presence of God. In the psalm, it says: ‘Once I wake up from this dream, I will be satisfied to see you!’ (Psalm 17:15). Life can be likened to a dream or sleep because a person can become immersed in their own illusions, escaping reality through alcohol, drugs, and addictions. The security of sleep means relying on earned money and various types of insurance. He feels secure. He doesn’t even notice how everything can change in an instant.
Belief in the resurrection means not only the solution of life after death, but also the present: God is already awakening us today and wants to show us what is essential, necessary for life. We should not understand the resurrection only as an act that God will perform on us after life takes us away from everything, but even now, God is awakening us to be awake and not fall into illusions.
Psychologist Karl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) wrote that it is helpful for a person to believe in the continuation of life. Whoever thinks that everything ends with death begins to cling to life at all costs anxiously. He only sees this life as his goal, but he does not live a relaxed life. An imbalance with death is a manifestation of neurosis. It corresponds to the general character of the human soul when it considers death to be a meaningful fulfillment and a goal, not an end. Having a meaningful goal and knowing that it is in line with the love of God is something more than just talking about the end of life in a state of loss.
This story also testifies to the benefits of believing in immortality. His name was Jerry, and he played football in the league of the eight best teams in the USA. He did not miss a single training session during his four years. The boy’s honesty deeply moved the coach, and he also admired the love and care he showed to his father. He saw them together several times, debating, laughing, and walking around the stadium hand in hand. But he never met his father alone. One Monday, Jerry knocked on the coach’s door: „My father died, “ – said. „ For a few days, I would stop training and travel home.“ The coach expressed his sincere condolences and said that he could easily go home. He also added: „ You don’t even have to rush to Saturday.“
The young man sighed and left. On Saturday, with only a few hours left in the game, Jerry stopped at the coach’s door again: „I’m back. Can I play?“ The coach tried to convince him to give up this wish, but finally agreed. Something happened that no one expected. The way Jerry moved around the field, the way he played with the ball, caught everyone’s attention. He was responsible for the victory. The next day, he was on the pages of the newspaper. In that thunderous and cheerful mood that reigned in the locker room, the coach sought out Jerry. He found him sitting quietly at the other end of the dressing room with his head in his hands. „ What happened? You never played like that. You have never been stronger, faster, or more experienced. What happened?“ Jerry looked the coach gently in the eye and said, „You know, my dad has been blind all his life. This was the first game in which my father could really see me.“
Father and son were close because they liked each other. Although death distances people, it did not disturb their closeness. The boy tried to make his father proud of him, to gain fame. He lived on hope: although my father cannot see me from the stadium because of his blindness, he can see me from heaven. It is the same in all areas of life. When we believe that God is the Father who loves us and blesses us, then it is natural that we manifest ourselves in such a way that we are for his glory. May the memory of the dead fill us with gratitude for the days present and with hope for the future.
Hello. And Bye.