Some years ago one of our parishioners asked a question that I suspect many have. They asked, “What happens when we die?”
That is a question that is open to many answers. One might focus on the physiological. What happens to our physical body when we die? Or the social dimension of our death. What happens to our kin and friendship group when we die? Do the relationship we hold together fall apart?
Important and interesting, but when we think about ourselves and death we are probably wondering what happens to our conscious selves. Do we in some way continue on as the self-aware personalities we are in this mortal life? In short, that appears to be the case.
In chapter 6 of John’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of himself as the bread of life. All who believe in him, he will raise up on the last day. All who feed upon his bread, that is, who make him part of themselves, he will raise up on the last day. This “bread of life discourse” as it is called follows his feeding of the five thousand. I see that feeding, where he takes five small barley loaves and two small fish as a parable on the grace of his life that is given for the world. As five loaves and two fish can give for that day life sustaining nourishment to five thousand men plus uncounted women and children, even more so can the bread of life of Jesus give eternal life to all. What happens when we die appears connected to believing and receiving and taking in this bread of life. Receiving this bread ensures that mortal death is not the end of our selves as self aware personalities. And there is more when we die.
Four times in this discourse, Jesus speaks of the last day. Later, Martha tells Jesus that she believes her brother will be raise on the last day. It is a time when all who have believed and received the bread of life, will be resurrected to eternal life. The resurrection of Lazarus was a foretaste of that last day. A physical body called and known as Lazarus with a self-aware personality is alive again. In the same way, George Washington, Mother Teresa, Elvis, etc. will be alive on that last day.
And a day it will be. One eternal day. As the revelation to John says, the new Jerusalem is joined to the new Earth. God is the light of this new creation and there is no need for sun nor moon, so no night as we know it, just eternal day. So it is when we die that we live in the eternal presence of God, heaven and earth joined, somehow renewed with resurrection bodies but with continuity with our current self-awareness.
What does this mean for us? It means that we have a great hope. It means that regardless of all our successes and failures, all our striving or all our quitting, all the regret and grief we carry due to things done or left undone, all ends well. It all ends well because of the life and love of Jesus freely given. So live with free and abundant love for God, yourself, and your neighbor. It all ends well.
Grace and peace,
Fr. Bill+