Life After Death
Here is a thumb-nail sketch of Life...and of Life after
Death, thanks to The Book of Wisdom of the Holy Bible, and to
a brief commentary by Rev. Joseph Castaldi of St. Joseph Parish in New
London, Ct.
"God did not make death,
nor does He rejoice in the destruction of the living.
For He fashioned all
things that they might have being;
and the creatures of the world are wholesome,
and there is not a destructive
drug among them
nor any domain of the netherworld on earth,
for
justice is undying.
For God formed man to be
imperishable;
the
image of His own nature He made him.
But by the envy of the devil,
death entered the world,
and
they who belong to his company experience it."
Wisdom 1:13-15; 2:23-24
"Until 1963, the Catholic Church not only preferred burial of the
body in a tomb, but actually prohibited cremation. That
prohibition was in response to a prevailing attitude connected with
cremation which denied the resurrection of the dead and the immortality
of the soul. Today's changing economic, geographic, ecological
and family factors have led the Church to shift its position. The
Catholic Church, while still preferring burial in a tomb now permits
cremation 'in case of necessity' as long as that procedure is not
chosen as a denial of Christian teaching. The Church prefers the
burial of the body in the ground or in a tomb for these reasons.
It imitates the example of Christ. It emphasizes the dignity of
the human body. It strengthens our belief in personal
resurrection. It counters the current popularity and acceptance
of re-incarnation. It provides a foretaste of the transformation
which takes place after the death and the resurrection of the
body. It facilitates the grieving process."