Neanderthals, which are believed to be early ancestors of our human family, were known to have appeared on the scene in Europe about 350,000 years ago. They were a rugged and very primitive species of human as one would expect.
However, anthropologists have discovered something unique about Neanderthals. They are known to have buried their dead. Not only that, Neanderthal graves reveal that the bodies of the dead were strewn with flowers and other goods. If this is true, then it shows, perhaps, that this primitive person discovered something meaningful in death. Rather than just leave their dead exposed, they seemed to practice some kind of care for the bodies of the dead. We don’t know what they believed, if anything, but there was definitely some kind of thought associated with dying as evidenced by the items placed on and around the body.
We have come a long way since Neanderthals. We, too, care for the dead. As people of faith, we gather around the dead, celebrate their life, ritualize their passing and reverently lay their bodies or earthly remains to rest. The rituals that we observe at the death of loved ones reveal what we believe about the meaning of death.
For followers of Christ, death is one of the realities of life. It is the passing of life from one reality to another. We believe that when our earthly life ends, our bodies lie in death, but our life continues. In a way we cannot quite comprehend, we acknowledge that there is, within us, a spirit that defines who we truly are. That spirit, placed within us by a loving God and renewed by the death and resurrection of Jesus, is eternal. It is that spirit that contains the real meaning and purpose of life. It is the spirit that connects us to the divine and it is that spirit which will, one day, see God face to face.
But we also understand that the earthly body is to be honored as well. When the bodies of our loved ones lie in death we treat them with a care which recalls the bodily Resurrection of Jesus. This Resurrection of the body is what we are promised by faith. As people who are flesh and spirit, we know that, one day, we will stand in the presence of our God flesh and spirit. This is how we were created. This is who we are. This is who we will always be through eternity. This is what we hope for at the end of time.
On this day when we remember all who have gone before us, we may experience various emotions and feelings. We may be sad, lonely, or nostalgic. We may wonder, question or ponder the meaning of life and death. For a time our loved ones were with us. Then they were gone. Should it be this way? We’re not certain. But what we do know is that Christ has given meaning to this passage from life to death. And that meaning is nothing less than the fullness of life which awaits each of us. The Resurrection is our hope.
That is what we celebrate for our loved ones today. We laid them to rest in the fervent hope that, one day, we will see them again. And we shall. Let us hold on to that hope and give thanks to God for wondrously creating us and even more wondrously drawing us to himself through the Resurrection.
May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.