Deciding where our remains will remain
Genesis 49:29-32
Jacob gave his sons this charge: “Since I am about to be
taken to my people, bury me with my fathers in the cave that lies in the field
of Ephron the Hittite, the cave in the field of Machpelah, facing on Mamre, in
the land of Canaan, the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite for a
burial ground. There Abraham and his wife Sarah are buried, and so are Isaac
and his wife Rebekah, and there, too, I buried Leah– the field and the cave in
it that had been purchased from the Hittites.”
Do you
ever think about where you will be buried after you die? As I approach my 46th birthday, I am starting
to think about it more and more! I would
like to be buried here in Fort Smith, but I hope that doesn’t happen any time
soon! One of the most fascinating burial
sites in Rome is commonly called “the Bone Church.” It’s the crypt section below a Capuchin
Church where the bones of over 4,000 deceased monks actually decorate the walls
and form elaborate art work. A lot of
people think it’s creepy, but I think it’s cool. On one wall of the crypt is this sober
reminder, as if the bones were speaking to each visitor: “Where you are, we
once were; where we are, you shall be.”
In other words, nobody is getting out of here alive! So, everyone should give some thought to
where we’ll leave our mortal remains. As
I celebrate every passing birthday, I’m more and more keenly aware I’m getting
closer to my “death day” and wonder where I should deposit this bag of bones.
As we come
to the end of the book of Genesis, we also hear about the end of the lives of
two of the patriarchs, Jacob and Joseph.
And what are their final thoughts for their children? They worry about where they will be buried,
specifically, where to leave their bones.
Jacob wants to be buried with his father Isaac and his grandfather,
Abraham. And Joseph wants his bones NOT
to be buried in Egypt, but taken back to the Holy Land and buried with his
ancestors. You see, as Jacob and Joseph
celebrated each birthday, they could hear louder and louder the voices of
Abraham and Isaac saying, “Where you are, we once were; where we are, you shall
be.” Like the Capuchin friars, Jacob and
Joseph wanted their bones to be treated with respect and even reverence.
Have you
noticed something curious that the priest does when he walks in to start
Mass? He approaches the altar and kisses
it. But did you know that he’s not
really kissing the altar? Nope. He’s kissing the relic that is buried inside
each altar. A relic is a small piece of
the bone of a saint. In other words,
every Catholic church is a kind of "bone church”! And every priestly kiss is a reminder to
treat our bones with respect and reverence like Jacob and Joseph desired their
children to treat them. That’s why even
though the Catholic Church allows cremation, she does NOT allow you to sprinkle
the ashes of your deceased relatives over the Rocky Mountains or on their
favorite fishing hole. We kiss things
that we love and honor; and Catholics kiss relics because we love the saints
and revere their bodies and even their bones.
You may think that’s creepy, but a real Catholic would think that’s
cool.
Where will
you be buried? That’s not an unimportant
question, and it’s not one you can ignore forever. I’ve ignored it for 45 years, but I can’t
ignore it anymore. Why? Because that relic I kiss at the start of
Mass is saying to me louder and louder: “Where you are, I once was; where I am,
you shall be.”
Praised be
Jesus Christ!
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