Our first reading is an assertion that life does not end with death in this world but continues in God’s eternal realm. The message is that the just (or righteous) will join God and the angels in heaven. God created us for incorruption, and made us in the image of his own eternity, but through the devil’s envy death entered the world, and those who belong to his company experience it.”My sisters and brothers, spiritually speaking, our extended family is vast and leaves us an inspiring legacy.
Our second
reading is from John’s record of his visions.
Previously he has told of the destruction of the old city, Babylon (code
name for Rome) and of the old heaven and earth; the ungodly have been driven
off to punishment. Only the godly, a
remnant, remain. Now John sees the new
creation. The sea, a symbol of
turbulence, unrest and chaos, is no more.
He sees the New Jerusalem, a holy city of divine origin, beautiful and
lovely. Some have interpreted this city
as the Christian church, set apart for God’s use in the world while others view
this as a glimpse at the reunion of heaven and earth. Once again, God makes all things right and
joyful for his people.
Alpha” and
“Omega” is the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet; this imagery is
intended to describe God as all encompassing.
Our gospel
story today (resurrection of Lazarus) is one of Jesus’ most powerful
miracles. After four days in the tomb,
there is little doubt to the crowd that the man was truly dead. Reviving him from a near death illness was
not possible. Yet, Jesus’ mere command
makes it happen. Most likely John
relates Jesus’ weeping to express how he is touched by the pain of those he
loves and shares that pain in some real way.
Martha tries to restrain Jesus from viewing the decomposing corpse of
his friend. And Jesus responds: did I
not tell you that if you believed you would see God’s power? After giving this reassurance, he issues the
Divine Command and Lazarus is fully restored.
Our readings
and celebration today revolve around Christian belief that in Christ we have a
spiritual connection with all the virtuous people who have gone before us. All saints and All Souls days celebrate the
final fulfillment of God’s promises of a holy paradise and the foretaste we experience
now as God’s people. Do you remember
Jesus’ preaching: the Kingdom is at hand, even among you? Today we celebrate that what Christ announced
is true and our unity with Christ and one another extends not just to us
believers in this life but in the life to come as well.
This entire
heritage comes our way because people like us embraced the responsibility of
preserving and passing on the gift of faith.
They put their energies, ability's and monies to work for this
fundamental Christian Mission.
Today we not
only inherit this gift but we inherit the responsibilities as well. Our Christian Mission is lived out in a
different world than our ancestors but the mission is still the same. We also are called by God to use our
energies, abilities and finances to promote preserve and pass on the
faith. We do this through many different
volunteer activities and donations to worthy charities. We do it most importantly through the
volunteer time and monies we contribute to the mission we share here at St.
Stephen’s.
This day, let
us not only celebrate our oneness with all who went before us in faith - let us
also choose to be generous with our resources in support of the mission
entrusted to us here and now.
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