(Thirty-second Sunday of the Year (B): This homily was given on November 7, 2021 at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I., by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read 1 Kings 17:10-16; Psalm 146:7-10; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:41-44.)
[For the audio version of this homily, click here:: Thirty-second Sunday 2021]
“Heaven Can Wait” is a 1978 film starring Warren Beatty and Julie Christie. (I’m sure some of you remember it.) The story centers around a Los Angeles Rams quarterback named Joe Pendelton (played by Beatty), who is taken out of his body before he’s supposed to die. He’s taken by an overanxious angel who’s on his first assignment. Now, unfortunately, by the time this mistake is discovered, Joe’s body on earth has already been cremated. So they have to find another body for Joe’s soul to inhabit. The body they decide on is that of a millionaire industrialist named Leo Farnsworth. Farnsworth has just been drugged and murdered by his unfaithful wife and her lover—both of whom are really surprised to see Leo walking around after they think they’ve done him in! Some of the film’s best and funniest moments come as the two adulterers try to make sense of it all.
I
won’t play the spoiler today by telling you the rest of the story, in case at
some point you want to see the film. I
mention it today because of the theme of the movie, which, of course, is reincarnation. Reincarnation is actually a common theme in
many Hollywood films. In fact, in
preparing this homily I googled “reincarnation movies” and I got lots and lots
of hits. I couldn’t believe how many
hits I got. This is obviously a subject
that’s of interest to many people.
As
Catholics, we don’t believe in reincarnation (or at least we’re not supposed to
believe in it). As we are told in
today’s second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews, chapter 9: “Just as it is appointed that human beings die once,
and after this the judgment, so also Christ,
offered once to take away the sins of many,
will appear a second time, not to take away sin
but to bring salvation to those who eagerly
await him.”
People
die once. Not twice. Not over and over again.
Once. When it comes to this earthly life, there are
no “do overs”.
The
Church teaches that, after death, we are judged in what’s called our
“particular judgment”. This is also what
that text from Hebrews teaches. Our
soul, which was separated from our body at the moment of death, then goes
either to heaven or hell or purgatory.
(Souls in purgatory, of course, go to heaven when they’re fully
purified. We pray for those souls in a
special way during this month of November—although we should certainly pray for
the holy souls in purgatory all year long.)
Then,
at the end of time, our souls will be reunited with our bodies (our resurrected
bodies), and we will go either to heaven or to hell for all eternity. Once all the souls in purgatory have been
purified, purgatory will cease to exist.
That’s
the teaching of the Catholic Church on what happens after death. As Jesus died once, so we die once. And we should thank God for that! We should thank God that we only get one
chance in this life! We should thank God
that reincarnation is not true!
Because
if it were true, then we would be living right now in a meaningless universe
with a God who’s nothing short of a tyrant!
Many
people don’t think about this, but they should.
Let me give you some examples of what I’m talking about.
If
reincarnation is true, then our God is not a loving Lord. Quite oppositely, if reincarnation is true
then our God is a cruel and heartless tyrant.
I say that because every creature on this earth that God has created suffers
in some way. This means that when your present
life of suffering is finally over you’re going to be reincarnated into another
creature that will also suffer—and perhaps suffer more intensely. And this will go on and on infinitely. There will be no terminal point for your pain!
There will be no opportunity to come to a place where there is no suffering.
If
reincarnation is true, there is also nothing at stake in this earthly life. Consequently, it doesn’t matter what you do
or don’t do in your present existence as a human being —because when it’s over
you might come back as a horse or a frog, and horses and frogs are not morally
responsible for their actions.
So
obviously, if reincarnation is true, there’s no ultimate goal in this life. We just experience an endless succession of
separate existences here on this earth—existences that have no real purpose.
If
reincarnation is true, then what’s also true is that you will probably never
see the people you love again once you and they leave this life. I mean, what are the odds that you and all
those you love will be reincarnated into the same family, or the same town, or the
same country—or into the same species for that matter? You might come back as a human being, but your
spouse might come back as a zebra and your children as chickens. Who knows?
Ultimately,
my brothers and sisters, if reincarnation is true, then the sad and tragic
reality is that suicide becomes an option for you—a very reasonable
option. Think about it. If you believe in reincarnation, and are
unhappy with your life right now, why not end it and get on to the next one? Maybe you’ll be born into a better situation
in your next life. If not, you can kill
yourself again—and again and again—until you get it right.
These
are some the sad and tragic effects of believing the lie of reincarnation. Many people—including many Christians—are not
aware of these things. As I’ve hopefully
made clear in this homily, reincarnation may provide a good theme for an
entertaining Hollywood movie like “Heaven Can Wait,” but in the real world reincarnation
would be disastrous—for everyone.
So,
you see, it’s actually a great blessing that today’s second reading from
Hebrews 9 is true—it’s a great blessing that we die only once, and that we’re
judged by God immediately thereafter—as long as we’re in the state of grace
when that decisive moment comes. That’s
key.
Then
the next body we inhabit after we die won’t be the body of an animal or of some
other human person; rather it will be our own body, raised from the dead by
Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and made immortal. And it’s in that resurrected body that
we will spend eternity with him—and with the Father and the Holy Spirit—in the glorious
and eternal kingdom of Heaven.
The
kingdom Jesus died and rose from the dead to give us.