A book for the Commemoration of the dead
Published : 11/03/2020 10:02:31
Categories : News
These are difficult days dedicated to the Commemoration of the Dead, this year when the whole world is fighting against the coronavirus pandemic. In this virtual space we would like to suggest two small "medicinal" and beneficial books for the grieving soul of Christians who have lost a loved one and propose them as a useful tool for meditation and preparation for prayer.
"Dov'è Cristo lì c'è il paradiso. Omelia sui defunti" (pg. 62; Euro 6,00) is a book edited by Lucio Coco whose preface is written by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. It contains for the first time the translation into Italian of a Homily of St. John Chrysostom on the cemeteries whose content invites us to reflect on the possibility of a life beyond death: "a life without end in happiness with God" (pg. 5). Within the text Chrysostom prefers to avoid the term death and speaks of it as a sleep on the assumption that in Scripture "death is called sleep" (pg. 17). It is also interesting to note that the place of burial is also understood by him as the Greek word cemetery because its etymology depends on the Greek verb sleep. He himself writes that "this place is called a cemetery so that it may be known that the dead and those who lie here are not dead but sleep and rest" (pg. 19). The proposed text allows us to welcome with simplicity and depth the theme of grace and salvation that Christ has gained for us. The pain of the death of a loved one is one of the most decisive experiences in life, a prelude and anticipation of death that we will all face. In the risen Christ this evil has become a passage, a decisive encounter with the One who loved us first, the Father of mercies. Communion with Him, in fact, allows us to live the experiences of daily life as an encounter with the Lord and with our brothers and sisters and as a gymnasium to grow in the capacity to love freely. This is what the Holy Spirit realizes in us. It is precisely for this reason that St John Chrysostom in this beautiful homily, for the first time translated into Italian, can say: where Christ is there is paradise.
"La vita non è tolta ma trasformata. Il senso cristiano della preghiera per i defunti" (pg. 60; Euro 8,00) is a small book signed by Cardinal Jorge Medina Éstevez, whose preface is by Arthur Roche, Archbishop Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Dedicated to all Christians united in faith, it tries to provide answers to those questions about life and death. Questions that each of us asks ourselves when we lose a loved one. It is possible to reflect on the meaning of funerals and why to take part in them, not only with reference to the doctrine expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (from number 1680 to 1690) but also, in the light of being and feeling Christian, men and women shaped by God's Love, in the faith condensed by the ancient and wise words of the Creed. In fact, the author recalls that life "in this land is neither the only nor the definitive one, but is only a stage, the first and not the last of our existence" (pg. 15) and that death "is the separation of the soul, a spiritual and immortal being created by God, from the body that was his from the moment of his conception in the womb" (pg. 15). After death the soul continues to live because "being a spirit, it has no parts" (pg. 15) and cannot divide or destroy itself. The body of the deceased, deeply respected by the Christian religion because in life it was called "to be a temple of the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Cor 6:19), as an instrument, so to speak, of the soul, through which so many good and worthy works were accomplished" (pg. 16). It must be remembered that, according to the Holy Scriptures, the soul possesses an immortal life and that after the second coming of Jesus (cf. Mt 24:30), the bodies of the dead will come back to life, reuniting with their souls to attain the bliss of eternal life.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
