Weekly Thoughts

As the dark evenings draw in perhaps naturally our thoughts turn to death and the church calendar reflects this. We have All Saints’ Day followed by All Souls Day and then by Remembrance Sunday a few days later; the dead are very much with us. One thing which drives me to despair (and I guess a fair number of my brother and sister clergy) is when I am asked to include “Death is nothing at all” in a funeral service. This is sometimes referred to as a poem but in fact it is a short extract from a sermon entitled “Death – the King of Terrors” preached by Henry Scott Holland in St Paul’s Cathedral following the death of King Edward VII in 1910. In this sermon Scott Holand begins by contrasting two different views of death: one that it is a dreadful catastrophe and the other that it is of little significance (this where “death is nothing at all” comes from). Scott Holland then resolves the tension between these two views by citing his text “yet it does not appear what we shall be” (1 John 3.2) and goes on to argue that although death does mean separation it also opens the way to transformation. This is reflected in the traditional Eucharistic preface: “yet we rejoice in the promise of eternal life; for to your faithful people life is changed, not taken away; and when our mortal flesh is laid aside an everlasting dwelling place is made ready for us in heaven”. 

At St John’s three members of our congregation have died in the past year: Helen, Olive and Marguerite in addition so have two of my friends: Margaret and Keelan and now my cousin Paul. Six deaths in one year is a lot to cope with, but life goes on. I shall remember them all with love and thanksgiving but is there anything else we can do? Doctors doubt the existence of life after death because it seems very doubtful that consciousness can exist without a living body to support it. But is that the whole story? We are not just body and mind we are spirit as well. Spirit is non-material; it is not bound by the physical constraints which define our live here, but it is what distinguishes us from other animals.  It is what makes the sacraments happen and it transcends life and death. When our earthly bodies die and our minds with them we continue to live in spirit. So when we remember our departed family and friends what should we do? Yes, we can remember them and give thanks to God for them, but since they are still alive (albeit in another form) we can pray for them, we can offer the Holy Eucharist as an act of intercession as we would if they were still alive. A Eucharist offered for those who have departed this life is known as a Requiem Mass from the first word of the old Latin introit: Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them.

READINGS AND PRAYERS

2 NOVEMBER – ALL SAINTS DAY – Matthew 8.1-12 – the Beatitudes – thanks giving the saints, their example and their intercession

3 NOVEMBER - ALL SOULS DAY – John 5.19-25 – those who hear will live – all the faithful departed

4 NOVEMBER – Tuesday – Luke 14.15-24 – compel them to come in – the evangelistic work of the Church

5 NOVEMBER – Wednesday – Romans 13.8-10 – love is the fulfilling of the law – people we find it hard to love

6 NOVEMBER – William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury, Teacher of the Faith, 1944 – Proverbs 4. 1-9 – love wisdom and she will guard you – Sarah, Archbishop of Canterbury designate

7 NOVEMBER – Friday – Luke 16.1-8 – the parable of the dishonest manager – for the right use of our resources

8 NOVEMBER – All Saints of England – Ecclesiasticus 44.1-15 – thanksgiving for the saints of our own land