Life after death

  The Luke 11:9 series: Life after death

Previous Next

 

When someone dies, the universal Christian prayer is: 'Eternal rest grant unto him/her O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him/her, and through the mercy of God may his/her soul rest in peace. Amen'

What the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) teaches us

The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) on life after death states that though the body decays after death, the soul never ceases to exist (CCC 366-368); in the afterlife, the soul experiences eternal communion with God (Heaven) in perfect peace, joy, and fulfilment (CCC 1023-1029); or temporary separation from God for purification (Purgatory) before joining him in Heaven (CCC 1023-1029); or eternal separation from God (Hell), not as a punishment but rather as a consequence of a person's free will to turn away from God's love by living a life of sin without repentance (CCC 1033-1037). 

Upon death, each person goes through a particular judgement (CCC 1021-1022) in which the eternal destiny of the soul is decided by our all-merciful and loving God, ever ready to forgive a repentant soul who will judge their faith and actions. The final stage of life after death is the resurrection of the body (CCC 988-1019) at the end of time at the second coming of Christ (CCC 988-1019), where the body reunites with the soul for eternal life (CCC 1020), not merely an endless existence but a life of perfect communion with God.

Jesus is the light of the World

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” [John 8:12]

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” [Matthew 28:19-20]

The crux of the Gospel, aka the Good News, is Jesus Christ; by his life, passion, death, and resurrection, Jesus has won the reward of Eternal Life for the faithful. He has already paid the price; all we have to do to get to Heaven is to believe in Christ and keep his commandments, "Love God above all things with all your heart, strength, mind and heart; and love your neighbour as yourself", we do not have to prove our worth, nor can we jockey for position or use guile to game the system. 

To love God above all things means that our relationship with God is the central focus of our lives, giving it meaning and purpose beyond our self-interest. When we love one another as ourselves, we acknowledge the universal truth that all humans are created in the image and likeness of God, all equally precious in his eyes and worthy of love; male and female, prince and pauper, old and young. 

Secure in this knowledge, no one is a stranger, enemy, outsider, threat or inferior; consequently, we open our hearts without fear or prejudice, and our interactions with everyone are filled with compassion, love and concern as fellow beloved children of God. The unalloyed joy and sense of fulfilment that follows when doing anything without expecting a return is priceless. The grace that follows is unimaginable.

Jesus has power over death

The Gospel passage on how Jesus dealt with the news of the sickness and death of Lazarus in John 11:1-44, speaks volumes of the inescapable fate of humans and the promise of resurrection for the faithful. 

To set the context, three siblings Lazarus, Martha and Mary from Bethany in Judea were close friends of Jesus. When Jesus gets news of how sick Lazarus was he is pained but decides to wait for the appointed time. Going back to Bethany to comfort Lazarus on his deathbed was fraught with danger as the mobs were roused up against Jesus seeking to arrest him and put him to death. When Jesus reaches Bethany, Lazarus has been dead for more than three days, and his sisters and friends are devastated. Jesus too feels the pain of death, yet in a moment of grace, he recognises the faith of Martha and raises Lazarus from the dead. History tells us that Lazarus and his sisters would outlive Jesus, fleeing the Holy Land for the safety of Cyprus where St Paul and Barnabas would later appoint Lazarus as Bishop of Kition (present-day Larnaca) where his mortal remains to this day.

Let's read John 11:1-44: 'Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. Then He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go to him.” Then Thomas, who is called [Didymus] the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the town but was in the place where Martha met Him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.” Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”'

The Gospels mention two other specific instances of Jesus raising the dead. The first is the Widow's son at Nain [Luke 7:11-17] and the other is the daughter of Jarius, a synagogue official [Luke 8:40-56]

Jesus conquered Death and gave us the promise of Eternal Life

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. [John 3:16]

God created man in his own image and likeness bestowing on him many blessings. But man's hard-heartedness and predilection to sin is an obstacle to being in communion with God. Ever merciful, God sent prophets to instruct the faithful, but to no avail. In the ultimate act of love, he sent his Son as a witness but man chose to reject the Son and his message, though innocent he was crucified on the cross. God raised Jesus from the dead. Many witnessed the resurrected Jesus in the flesh, including the Apostle Thomas who put his hands in the wounds of Jesus. "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” [John 20:29]

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” [John 11:25-26]

He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned. [Mark 16:16]

Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." [John 14:1-3]

Ask for the blessing of a Loved One on the deathbed

This is a very special, powerful and cathartic connection to ask for the blessing of a loved one. Remember that in death they are not there physically but their soul lives on forever, so when you talk to them by name remember their blessing and their presence will be felt deep in your soul.

Dealing with the Death of a Loved One

It is very natural to feel the sting of pain when we lose a loved one. Jesus too showed his human side when John the Baptist and Lazarus, both close to him died. Jesus left his disciples and the throngs of followers to cry and pray in solitude. 

One such occasion was on receiving the painful news that Herod Antipas, the ruler of Galilee and Perea, had martyred his cousin John the Baptist. As recounted in Matthew 14:3-13: "So he [Herod Antipas] sent and had John beheaded in prison. And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus. When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself."

Humans are mortals and death is the inescapable reality for each and every one. Worse still we never know what tomorrow will bring or if we will even live to see the day.

One of the most quoted passages of the Book of Wisdom in the Old Testament is from Ecclesiastes, traditionally attributed to King Solomon, which reflects on the meaning of life, the nature of human existence, and the complexities of human experience exploring the themes of the fleeting nature of life, the inevitability of death, the apparent randomness of life’s events, and the pursuit of meaning in a world that can seem confusing or unfair. "To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace ... I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing is taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him. That which is has already been, And what is to have already been, And God requires an account of what is past. Moreover, I saw under the sun: In the place of judgment, Wickedness was there; And in the place of righteousness, Iniquity was there. I said in my heart, “God shall judge the righteous and the wicked, For there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.” [Ecclesiastes 3:1-8,14-17]

If you think of our time on Earth as just the journey and the final destination is Heaven, then Death is merely the threshold to everlasting life in Heaven. 

As we are aggrieved to say 'Goodbye' to our loved dead, it is akin to saying 'Farewell, till we meet again', as if it were a ship setting out of port to sail into the great unknown. On the other side, Heaven, the ancestors, angels and saints are ready to receive the soul as it pulls into port, akin to saying, "There he/she comes. Welcome home" 

While we no longer have the physical presence of our loved ones (yes, the body much as we fuss over it, as we know too well, never stays young, healthy or eternal …) the separation hurts because it is irreversible. But the soul lives on. Free from bodily infirmity. So talk to the soul of your loved one by name. Ask for their prayers and blessings. You might not be able to see them or touch them but you will feel their love once you realize that they still love and care for you. And they are in a unique position to intercede for you. 
 

How to console someone mourning the loss of a loved one

I came across this gem on social media but was unable to verify the authorship.

Quote:

In my darkest moments, I don’t need solutions or advice. All I yearn for is simple human connection — a quiet presence, a gentle touch. These small gestures are the anchors that hold me steady when I'm flailing, and life feels unlivable. Please don’t try to fix me. Don’t take on my pain or push away my shadows. Just sit beside me as I work through my inner storms. Be the steady hand I can reach for as I find my way. My pain is mine to carry, my battles mine to face. But your presence reminds me I’m not alone in this vast, sometimes frightening world. It’s a quiet reminder that I am worthy of love, even when I feel lonely and broken. So, in those dark hours when I lose my way, will you be by my side? Not as a rescuer, but as a companion. Hold my hand until the dawn arrives, helping me remember my strength. Your silent support is the most precious gift you can give. It’s a love that helps me remember who I am, even when I forget.

Unquote

Footnote

This series of posts, which I call, 'The Luke 11:9 Series', is an attempt to verbalise various aspects of my Catholic faith as revealed in Scripture; topics include Destination Heaven; Golden ticket; God's Grace; Seeds of Love; Mary, did you know?; Feel the love of God; Love your neighbour as yourself, The Good Shepherd; Receive the Sacraments often; Eucharistic Adoration; Communion of Saints; How to pray; Role-playing Scripture; Mary, Help of Christians; Understanding suffering; Forgiveness; Gratitude, the life-changing attitude; Life after death; One Body of Christ; and Hearts ablaze. I sincerely hope it helps you in your faith journey. Always turn to the Holy Spirit when you search for answers to your questions, because Luke 11:9 says, "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."