It was so beautiful that she could not look on it; the brightness of that soul dazzled her. Blessed Raymond, her confessor, asked her to describe to him, as far as she was able, the beauty of the soul she had seen. St. Catherine thought of the sweet light of that morning, and of the beautiful colors of the rainbow, but that soul was far more beautiful. She remembered the dazzling beams of the noonday sun, but the light which beamed from that soul was far brighter. She thought of the pure whiteness of the lily and of the fresh snow, but that is only an earthly whiteness. The soul she had seen was bright with the whiteness of Heaven, such as there is not to be found on earth. “My father,” she answered. “I cannot find anything in this world that can give you the smallest idea of what I have seen. Oh, if you could but see the beauty of a soul in the state of grace, you would sacrifice your life a thousand times for its salvation. I asked the angel who was with me what had made that soul so beautiful, and he answered me, “It is the image and likeness of God in that soul, and the Divine Grace which made it so beautiful.” [1].
Friends, an absurd or at least far-fetched situation is presented by the Sadducees to Jesus in today's Gospel. It should cause us to ponder the end of our life, likely something most of us don't relish. As the saying goes, nothing in life is for certain except death and taxes.
And, allow me to insert St. Thomas More's ever potent retort to his accusers as he was being unjustly tried for high treason, the punishment, as he is reminded by the dastardly Cromwell, is death. More was quick to remind those in the courtroom that "Death-comes for us all, my Lords. Yes, even for kings he comes." More is then reminded by the Court that "Your life lies in your own hands, Thomas, as it always has." (a reference to More's decision about the King that few in England had at the time the intestinal fortitude to follow or choose to understand). And More responds that if he, in fact, holds his life in his own hands (based on his decisions) then he will keep a good grip on it!
Do we have a good grip on our life, a "grip" that allows God to be involved in every aspect?
The situation presented to Jesus by the Sadducees was that of a woman who married a man who had 6 brothers and one by one each of the brothers died. The woman married the next brother who then died, etc, until all had passed away. The Sadducees questioned Jesus, in an attempt-as usual-to confound Him (nice try) as to whose wife the woman will be for the 7 departed men at the time of the resurrection. The Sadducees, just like today's Atheists, attempted to ridicule the notion of resurrection by presenting a twisted scenario that Jesus couldn't possibly explain. Jesus summarily dismisses their trite scenario by assuring them that death does not have the final word, that we will be alive in the Lord and that our loved ones are alive in the Lord. ("...he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive."; LK 20:27-38)
Which brings me to the reference to the skeleton and Momento Mori, Latin for "Remember your death", the inevitability and unpredictability of death.
I recently read an article about keeping a skeleton nearby as a reminder of death, that death comes to us all ("Yes, even for kings he comes."). The article was a bit uncomfortable but I also felt assured, assured in my belief of the resurrection and life everlasting. Each Sunday we pray aloud the Nicene Creed which contains the following; "I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead..."
We have no idea what God has in store for us, for all of us, for those who love Him, but we can wonder. We can have reminders that are not morbid but rather cause us to love the idea of Heaven, to love the Lord our God with all our heart and all our strength. And, we are told by St. Paul; "What eye has not seen, and ear has not heard, and what has not entered the human heart, what God has prepared for those who love Him." (2 COR 2:9)
St. Catherine of Siena seems to verify St. Paul's writing as well as today's Gospel when she was given by God an explanation of the vision of the glory of a Saint's soul in Heaven, and that upon that vision Catherine would think that she was looking God in the face:
