Memorial of Saints
Cornelius, pope and martyr, and Cyprian, Bishop and martyr
(I Corinthians 15:12-20; Luke 8:1-3)
A middle-aged man recently was speaking about the
future. He said that people do not know
whether there is an after-life.
Therefore, he concluded, it is best that we make the most of this
life. The man did not mean to be
irreverent. In fact, he probably thought
he was being open-minded just to recognize the possibility of a new life after death. But St. Paul would probably jump on the
statement. In today’s first reading Paul
declares unreservedly that the dead will rise again to new life.
Paul turns the question of a human resurrection like
Christ’s on end. Evidently some members
of the Christian community in Corinth claimed to believe in Christ’s
resurrection but doubted human resurrection.
For Paul that position is absurd because Christians have become part of
Christ’s resurrected body. If they do
not rise from the dead, then how could it be said that Christ rose? he would
ask. It would be like saying that only the general and not the soldiers of a
victorious army won the battle. Paul
spells out the consequences of such a position in full rhetorical form:
Christians would not only remain in their sins but would be fools for believing
in Christ’s resurrection in the first place.
Martyrs have spilled blood continually as testimony to
Christ’s resurrection. Today we
celebrate two of the most illustrious. Saints
Cornelius and Cyprian suffered death in the middle of the third century. They went to their deaths sure that they
would rise with Christ. Also important
for the two is the truth that Christians who deny Christ’s resurrection out of
fear of punishment could be forgiven. Some
Christians believed at the time that denying Christ or apostasy was the
unpardonable sin. No, God’s forgiveness
is without end.
