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I went to a funeral of a colleague\u2019s relative recently and there was the usual ritual of a Catholic service and an outpouring of grief from those close to the person who had died, and sympathy from others to support those who were grieving.\u00a0 During the service there was a reading from\u00a0 1 Cor 15: \u201cListen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed – in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye.\u201d\u00a0 We want to believe that this is true, that our loved ones and ourselves will not die, and we will have new life; that life will be changed, but not ended.\u00a0
But do we truly believe this?\u00a0 Even if we do, can we be assured of heaven.\u00a0 St Augustine wrote \u201c do not despair, one of the thieves was saved; do not presume, one of the thieves was damned.\u201d\u00a0 St Monica on her death bed asked one thing of her son Augustine, \u201cthat you remember me at the altar of the Lord wherever you may be\u201d.
We can only imagine the sense of grief and loss that Mary and the Apostles felt when Jesus died on the cross; a sense of bewilderment, abandonment and desolation.\u00a0 A loss of hope in God.\u00a0 Yet, the mystery of the first Easter soon turned that that despair, loss and grief into joy.\u00a0 It transformed the hearts of the disciplines who listened to the risen Christ on the road to Emmaus. \u00a0 In an instant, Jesus, the Christ, redeemed the world. He broke open the gates of hell.
Our lives can change in an instant, for better or worse.\u00a0 When my son Patrick was born I felt a sense of deep love, and realised that I would now feel deep hurt if anything should ever happen to him, and I would have no control over it.\u00a0 I also had that \u201caha\u201d moment which explained to me why my parents had always been so worried about me, while I had always been sure that I could look after myself.\u00a0 Similarly, my life changed in an instant when my daughter, Therese, died shortly after birth. We can find it hard to hope in Jesus\u2019 resurrection in a moment like that in one\u2019s life – yet it is precisely at a time like that when the resurrection gives us the most profound hope.
Jesus saved us – yet, while we have been saved, we also hope to be saved, as we strive to stand firm to the end (Mt 24:13). When I attended the funeral recently, I was unaware of the cultural custom of all present filing past the immediate and near family to pass on their condolences when the service had ended.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I couldn\u2019t stay to pass on my condolences as I had a work commitment.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t stand firm to the end on that occasion.
Jesus gave us both hope and salvation and it is our hope in salvation that makes us an Easter people.\u00a0 Being an Easter person means living moment by moment and staying firm in each moment, because that\u2019s the only moment that counts.\u00a0 What do we really make of this mystery that St Paul wrote about in Corinthians – and how is it changing your life to conform to the image of Christ?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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