Jacob gave his sons this charge, “Since I am about to be taken to my people, bury me with my fathers in the cave that lies in the field of Ephron the Hittite, the cave in the field of Machpelah, facing on Mamre, in the land of Canaan, the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite for a burial ground. There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, and so are Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and there, too, I buried Leah – the field and the cave in it that had been purchased from the Hittites.”
From ancient times some people have presumed to buy, sell, inherit, donate, and hand over to heirs the land they own. It wasn't always so, of course, as aboriginal peoples of North America and Australia have reminded us. Nomadic people might feel bonded to the land, as if it owns them, but never suppose that they cannot pass through certain lands lest they violate laws of private property.
Private property? What is that?
How can a person who expects to die within a century (or less) own land that has been here and will be here forever?
It is rather artificial, when you think about it.
And yet the Pentateuch tells of the Patriarch Abraham buying a piece of property in perpetuity. He bought it to bury his wife Sarah, and to establish a burial ground for himself and his descendants. As Abraham's grandson Jacob was about to die, he made Joseph and his sons promise to carry his body back to that gravesite. And the same book of Genesis tells us that Joseph insisted his bones should be taken back -- even four centuries later -- to be buried in a different site which Jacob had bought.
Ownership of land in the Bible has a spiritual and corporeal dimension. It begins spiritually with God's promise to Abraham and continues physically with the burial of bodies. Given that Biblical story of ownership, can you even own land if you don't expect to be buried there? Or if your ownership is nothing more than an investment to be negotiated at some future date for the best possible price?
Today, when Christians speak of owning land they speak of stewardship. They admit their claim is temporary; it is both duty and privilege.
Beyond today, in a post-Covid world, many people disavow owning land, preferring to move freely as they pursue their careers from city to city and nation to nation. They certainly own assets both physical like jewelry, heirlooms, and gold, and immaterial like stocks and bonds. And they eagerly amass them. These latter day nomads have little concern about their burial sites.
Reflecting the spirit of the Old Testament, the Catholic Church urges her people to be buried in a proper cemetery or mausoleum, or to have their ashes interred in a columbarium. In these blessed sites, we remember the Church living and dead, and our rootedness in Earth. Facing death and planning realistically, we expect the Resurrection of the Dead. And we follow the path of Jesus's Ascension and Mary's Assumption,
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.