Memorial of Saint Andrew Dung-Lac, Priest, and Companions, Martyrs

Lectionary: 502

That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called ‘Lord’ the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.”

Miguel de Unamuno, a Catholic philosopher of early 20th century Spain, taught that consciousness wants to remain conscious. It does not surrender easily to annihilation. If I sleep it's only with the reassurance I shall awaken. Rationality may point to the corpse and insist the person is dead, but the living replies, "...and yet I am alive."

Death is a threat with its own relentlessly cruel logic, and so we turn to faith for reassurances. "...to him all are alive." Jesus says.

Our assurance began with the Jewish martyrs during the time of the Maccabees. When the nation was invaded by gentiles who insisted they should abandon their defeated god and turn to the victorious gentile gods, Jews refused to surrender their old, "conservative" ways. They would not eat pork, they would speak Hebrew, study their scriptures, circumcise their infant boys -- and many would die rather than offer sacrifices to a statue.

In the face of such cruelty, despite the apparent silence and impotence of God, the Jews believed their ever-faithful God would raise up his faithful martyrs. They could not surrender to Reason, the relentless logic of their tormentors. We're hearing reports of Central Asian religious minorities – including Uighur and Kasakh Muslims -- suffering similar barbarities today at the hands of the Communist party. Whether we regarded the spirit as human or divine, we must admit it does not die readily.

Our belief in the resurrection is an assurance grounded in our own experience of faith. When we might have given up on God, God would not give up on us. We came back time and time again, drawn by a Holy Spirit that comforted, healed, reassured and delighted in a manner beyond all earthly pleasure. 

Just before they succumb to death our martyrs tell us God is with them even in their final moments. They are our beloved while those who deny such hope are clearly our enemies. We can no more surrender our hope in God's eternal mercy than we can forget our dearly departed. They will not have died in vain so long as we believe as they believed.

We announced to those who celebrate individuality the core truth of human nature, Love, that substantial bond, survives the life of the individual and is worth far more. It deserves even the sacrifice of individual existence.

...for to him all are alive. The Father of Jesus does not lose us, the gift our savior has given to him, Nor will Jesus lose the gift the Father gave to him, you and me. Our eternal salvation is assured by their love for one another, a love we witnessed with astonishment on Calvary. This is not a philosophical assurance; it is confident faith.