We easily let Halloween overlap with what we used to celebrate as the memory of souls departed. As Christians we still believe in the resurrection of the body even if it is very difficult to understand it. What the church calls 'the four last things', are the things that bound our earthly horizon: death, judgement, heaven and hell. These are the things which the time we live in tends to make us forget. But the moment will come when the world of time and space will no longer stand in the way. Faced with this dilemma, the readings from Maccabees and Luke, this Sunday, are enlightening. In Maccabees, we have the only clear Old Testament Text that teaches us to pray for our beloved departed not for nostalgia but because of the resurrection. In Luke, the Sadducees confront Jesus on the same issue of the resurrection but from an argumentative standpoint. Our culture is one that mainly seeks explanation but there is more to life than just explanations. Faith does not necessarily explain, but can open up to understanding, which is different from explaining. The resurrection of the body is a hope; a trust in God who calls into being the things that are not and makes the dead live. The true Christian must reflect on his/her own mortality by meditation. By meditating on the inevitability of death, a Christian gains a valuable perspective of the fleeting nature of life, while hoping to be with the Father in the afterlife through Christ, our Lord, Amen.
