“I LOOK FORWARD TO THE RESURRECTION”

As we pray the Nicene Creed during
Mass, we state, “I look forward
to the resurrection of the dead.”
This Creed, written in the fourth
century, is our basic statement of
faith. We have an opportunity with
the revised translation of The
Roman Missal to ponder again
what the words we proclaim every
Sunday tells us about our faith and
what we believe.
It may seem strange to us
that one should “look forward to”
any aspect of death. The phrase
does not mention only death, but
Resurrection. The words of the
Creed suggest that we should have
hope in the Resurrection of the
dead.
In our colloquial speech we
often hear expressions that it is
God’s will that he takes life in
death. When my grandfather died,
about 80 percent of the people at
his vigil said one of two things: 1) God must need him in
heaven or 2) it is God’s will. Neither of those statements comforted
me. Rather, they made me angry. Granted, I realized
later that we really don’t have — colloquially — adequate words
in the mystery of death. That day I asked, “Why would God
want death?” “Isn’t God the Creator, the one who wants life?”
Sin, death, inequity are not what God wants for human persons.
God wants for us life, equity, and our participation in his
very life (the opposite of sin which breaks down our communion
with God). Jesus’ own death by humans was not the end.
Rather, God exulted him, resurrected him. Death would not
be the end, but rather the mystery of God’s gift of Resurrection.

The same holds true for us.
In the accounts of the Gospel,
Christ gave us hope that death
would not be the end, but rather
God will resurrect us, raise us up at
the end times. This is, indeed, a
reason for hope, a reason to “look
forward to the resurrection of the
dead.” Notice the words “the dead.”
It is not “a dead person.” Christ will
resurrect not one person, but will
resurrect human persons which
we know as the final judgment.
Through Baptism, we entered into
the communion of the Church and
participation in God’s life. The
communion of the Church spans
time, space, and history. Baptism,
this communion with the Church
and with God, incorporates us
with those who have gone before us
throughout history and those who
will be baptized that have not yet
been born. Communion with God
and the Church is not broken in death. Rather, throughout all
of life, death, and the final Resurrection of the dead, the baptized
are in communion with God and the Church. At the
Resurrection of the dead, our whole beings — mind, body, and
spirit — will be resurrected in order to be in total communion
with God and the Church. As long as sin infects human persons,
total communion cannot be possible for us with God.
Sin breaks down communion. This is why we “look forward to
the resurrection of the dead.” We, with hope in our good and
loving God, will join the communion of saints and be in total
communion with God’s very self.

Preparing Your Parish for the Revised Roman Missal: Homilies and Reproducibles for Faith Formation © 2011 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training
Publications, 3949 South Racine Avenue, Chicago IL 60609; 1-800-933-1800; www.LTP.org. Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973,
2010, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). All rights reserved. Art by Laura James © LTP. This image may be reproduced for
personal or parish use. The copyright notice must appear with the text. Published with Ecclesiastical Approval (Canon 823, 1).