“HE IS not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him” (Lk 20:38). With these words, Jesus answers the Jews who questioned him about the mystery of the resurrection. This is one of the fundamental truths of our faith, which we proclaim every Sunday when we pray the Creed: “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.”
Hope in the next life is a comforting reality, since it reminds us that God has created us to “be joined to Him in an endless sharing of divine life beyond all corruption.”[1] Those truly united to our Lord are not bound by sin or death. “Christ won this victory when He rose to life, for by His death He freed man from death.”[2] Death no longer has the last word, for our Lord, Creator of all things, calls us to a life of intimacy and eternal joy with Him.
After our earthly journey, a future of endless joy awaits us. This conviction is not based solely on our human longing. Its foundation is “the faithfulness of God, who is not the God of the dead but of the living, and who gives to all who trust in Him the life He fully possesses.”[3]
IN A SOCIETY where events move so quickly, we often give more importance to what is immediate. This frenetic pace marks our daily lives and can make us forget the transcendent horizon of our existence. Therefore, as we approach the final stretch of the liturgical year, the Church encourages us to reflect on our eternal destiny: we are called to rejoice forever with God in the glory of heaven.
“You show me the path of life; in your presence there is fulness of joy” (Ps 16:11). These words point us towards the goal of our earthly journey. They assure us that in the life to come we will attain the fullness we have always longed for. If the passage of time may erode our hopes, plans, and relationships, or even if we feel truly satisfied with how greatly God has blessed our lives, Christian hope reminds us that the best is yet to come. For many people, “man’s journey moves from life to death.” Christians, in contrast, live with the certainty that “our pilgrimage goes from death to life: the fullness of life!”[4] It will be a more authentic and fruitful existence than our present life.
Faith in eternal life has specific repercussions for our daily life. It illuminates and gives hope to our desires and efforts to do good, to live our vocation faithfully. Moreover, it helps us to put into perspective the importance of earthly realities. “You are worried,” St. Josemaría wrote. “Listen: whatever happens in your interior life or in the world that surrounds you, never forget that the importance of events or of people is very relative. Take things calmly; let time pass; and then, as you view persons and happenings dispassionately and from afar, you will acquire the perspective that will enable you to see each thing in its proper place and in its true size.”[5]
THE SADDUCEES presented our Lord with a hypothetical case: a woman had married seven brothers in succession, each of whom died one after the other. “In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be?” And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God” (Lk 20:33-36).
Our Lord's words may surprise us. How can we fail to love someone who on earth has been an essential part of our life? The fact that in heaven people don’t marry doesn’t mean that we will forget the relationships that made us happy on earth. In paradise we will contemplate and enjoy everything we have loved in our lives, especially those dearest to us. “Never forget that after death you will be welcomed by Love itself. And in the love of God you will find as well all the noble loves you had on earth”[6] And the joy of heaven will find its full culmination in the resurrection of the dead.
“The life that God prepares for us is not a mere embellishment of the present one: it surpasses our imagination, for God continually amazes us with his love and mercy.”[7] We don’t know exactly what heaven will be like. But we can be sure of one thing: we will find ourselves face to face with God. And with Him we will find his Mother and also those we have loved on earth.
[1] Gaudium et spes, no. 18.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Saint John Paul II, Homily, 11 November 2001.
[4] Francis, Angelus, 10 November 2013.
[5] St. Josemaría, The Way, no. 702.
[6] St. Josemaría, Friends of God, no. 221.
[7] Francis, Angelus, 10 November 2013.