The Calamity of Death and the Trial of Life

November 2, 2014
Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed
First Reading: Wisdom 3:1-9
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/110214.cfm

Death is a calamity. Or at least that is usually how we think of it. In fact, it is hard for us to imagine a worse fate than death, a more terrible punishment than execution. What really sends us reeling is when an innocent person, a good person, dies unfairly, unexpectedly, before their time, or even at the hands of evil people. If a righteous person is killed by bad people, our hearts sink at the tragedy of it. Yet, this Sunday’s reading from Wisdom challenges our reaction. Perhaps we are the ones looking at the calamity of death upside down.

Context

This reading comes from Wisdom 3, right after a discussion in chap. 2 of how the righteous poor man is persecuted by the wicked. It would be tempting to think that the suffering of the righteous is meaningless and their death a disaster. Our passage responds to that temptation. The foolish thought that the righteous were dead (3:2) and that their going away was a kakosis, a misfortune, an evil fate. The author of Wisdom contradicts such a view and will set about explaining how the fate of the righteous is actually “in peace.” After this section, he’ll go on to explain the plight of the barren yet righteous woman and those who die before their time.

In the Hand of God

We spend so much of our lives working to accumulate worldly goods that make us feel secure, comfortable, stable, safe. Despite the importance of things like houses, cars, jobs, nest eggs, they have a limit: the grave. None of those things are able to come with us beyond the door of death. If a person dies in bad circumstances, poor, misunderstood, downtrodden, and yet righteous, then he may very well find himself “in the hand of God.” The fate of the martyrs is just such a contradiction—to die a seemingly shameful death, only to receive a glorious crown in heaven. Lazarus, the poor man whom Jesus talks about in Luke 16, is covered in sores and dies as a poor beggar and isn’t even buried, yet he is “carried by angels to Abraham’s bosom” (Luke 16:22). What seems to earthly eyes as a terrible fate, the Lord turns on its head. While in the “hand of God,” no basanos (torture, torment, disease) can come upon him. The restlessness, difficulty and sorrow of human life gives way to permanent peace.

The Trial of Earthly Life

If the heaven which awaits the righteous is free from torture, that does not mean that their earthly life is. In fact, Wisdom emphasizes that earthly life includes punishment, discipline, and trial. The tests and trials of this life, in Wisdom’s interpretation, are not random acts of annoying badness, but God’s way of bringing good out of evil by using objectively evil occurrences to serve for our sanctification. An untimely death of a relative, an accident, an illness, a false accusation, which in itself might be wrong or tormenting, can serve to refine us like gold, to prove our virtue, to actually make us holy. Of course, the value of such circumstances depends on our response—we could allow ourselves to become resentful rather than humble when we suffer or are treated unfairly. Wisdom not only cites the common biblical metaphor of refining gold (Zech 13:9; Mal 3:3; Prov 17:3), but says that the righteous are like “burnt offerings.” Yikes! Burnt offerings were animals put on God’s altar and completely burnt with fire. The trial of the righteous is not exactly child’s play.

The Day of Visitation

The righteous will come back to “shine” on their “day of visitation.” Jesus refers to the “time of visitation” (Luke 19:44) and St. Peter also looks forward to the “day of visitation” (1 Pet 2:12). This day is the day of judgment, the moment when the righteous are finally vindicated, the time when God hands down judgment and mercy, separating the sheep and the goats. The vindication of the righteous includes not just restoration, but elevation. That is, they will not just receive peace, but will “govern nations and rule over peoples” (Wis 3:8 RSV). Jesus teaches that his apostles will “sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Matt 19:28). St. Paul says that the “saints will judge the world” (1 Cor 6:2). Now this does not mean that God will set up a series of mini-trials where each saint will hold court and judge a certain number of souls. Rather, the saints will join in the judgment of God by way of participation. When God separates the sheep and goats, the saints will nod their heads in agreement and even rejoice over the just judgment of God. In this way, the saints participate in the kingly authority of God, who reigns over them in his eternal kingdom of heaven.

Knowledge and Love

The conclusion of our first reading points to the ultimate destination of the saints. They will be united with God, enjoy his presence and come to “understand truth” and to “remain in love.” In the end, the mind and the heart will come together, knowledge and love will be united. Too often in our lives, “knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Cor 8:1). But in heaven, knowledge will not interfere with love, because all intellectual pride will be banished, vain curiosity will fade away, and the saints’ knowledge of who God is and their love for him will unite. As St. Paul says, “at present I know partially; then I shall know fully as I am fully known” (1 Cor 13:12).  Only by God’s grace and mercy can we come to possess a full knowledge of him and be open to receive all of the love he offers to us.

When we witness innocent suffering or experience unfairness, our hearts should not fail to look beyond the dark veil of death which separates us from our eternal home. Rather, we have to remind ourselves that death is not the final chapter, but only a transition. True judgment, final vindication, lie on the other side of death. Those that seem to be dead may just be more alive than we ourselves are and death itself might not be so calamitous after all.

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Mark Giszczak (“geese-check”) was born and raised in Ann Arbor, MI. He studied philosophy and theology at Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, MI and Sacred Scripture at the Augustine Institute of Denver, CO. He recently received his Ph. D. in Biblical Studies at the Catholic University of America. He currently teaches courses in Scripture at the Augustine Institute, where he has been on faculty since 2010. Dr. Giszczak has participated in many evangelization projects and is the author of the CatholicBibleStudent.com blog. He has written introductions to every book of the Bible that are hosted at CatholicNewsAgency.com. Dr. Giszczak, his wife and their daughter, live in Colorado where they enjoy camping and hiking in the Rocky Mountains.

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