From the bulletin for The Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Aug 18, 2024)
The Adventure, Part 6: “The Hour When All Who Are in their Graves Will Come Out… and Hear His Voice”
Trumpets. Eager Louis heard trumpets. He opened his eyes, not yet realizing that he had eyes to open. He was hardly prepared for the sight. What does it look like when 300 billion sons of Adam are assembled (somehow) in one place? Eager beheld the unspeakably vast sea of humanity–Adam in the collective sense–as every man, woman, and child who had ever lived simultaneously found him or herself resurrected in the flesh.
Turns out Eager had been in Purgatory until Judgment Day. Because of his neglect of those in need during life, he himself had been neglected in death. But not utterly forgotten.
There could be no telling how long that had been in earth years. Eager noticed that the earth beneath his resurrected feet was scorched and barren, yet cold to the touch. The sky was likewise devoid of the faintest cloud, nor were sun, moon, or star visible. But the surface of the earth, or rather the bodies that covered it, were illuminated with a pale red glow. The scent of sulfur suffused was in the air, which at least had the effect of bringing literally everyone back to his or her senses. For the moment, all were eerily silent.
They were also stark naked. Each was still in the initial stages of coming to grips with the apocalyptic circumstances. The locale itself was impossible to discern given the mass of people swarming its surface. But it seemed to be an enormous bowl or perhaps crater, for somehow Eager could see each one’s face, even of those who stood at a great distance. As he scanned the masses, his gaze met with that of others. Some smiled back like a welcome friend; others’ eyes conveyed a craven malice that set his soul on edge. It was the general resurrection!
Eager looked down at his hands. For his life, he could not remember what they had looked like before. But he felt that there was both an oldness and a newness to these appendages now. In fact, as he surveyed his whole body, he was struck by a strange sensation of both awe and recognition. His physicality seemed more solid, more human, more… “him.” The words of St. Paul flashed through his mind: “What you sowed was not the body which was to be, but a bare kernel. So is it with the resurrection. What is sown is perishable, what is raised is imperishable. It was sown a physical body, it is now raised a spiritual body.” These words were now fulfilled in his seeing. What his body had been previously was but the seed. Now he was human in the fullest sense; a man come to full stature.
Trumpets blared a second time. The sound seemed to emanate from Heaven itself and the ground quaked in response. The piercing blast sent many crouching fearfully towards the earth. The remainder, however, stood erect and instinctively lifted their heads upwards, facing the heavens, which all of a sudden were filled with thick clouds. These hung low, sagging toward the earth as if pregnant with rain. Lightning flashed from within their depths. Terror gripped the faces and hearts of those who were crouching. But Eager found himself sharing the anticipation of those who stood standing. Like the lightning above, a premonition flashed through the crowd, which found expression on the lips of many in overtones alternating between fright and joy: He’s coming!
As a third blast of the trumpets sounded, a burst of light broke the cloudy veil. Gasps and cries were heard on every side. From the eruption of light, from out of the clouds, the blinding figure one like a Son of Man slowly emerged, descending upon a bank of cloud towards those gazing on from below. He was wrapped in majesty, clothed in the very glory of the heavens, and accompanied by legions of angels streaming down like so many rays of light. Though the excitement and joy did not leave him, Eager also felt himself overcome with a reverential fear. It was as though he had never known Reality until now. Instinctively, Eager fell to his knees, gazing upwards. He could sense that those crouching were anxious to flee or disappear but were instead impelled to kneel as well, riveted in place. All they could do was avert their gaze like those allergic to the light.
From the majestic glory came a voice. It seemed to reach Eager not through the ears but from deep within his heart. It was the voice of Truth itself, speaking words which shook the very foundations of the cosmos, sending what seemed like ripples through the angelic host that surrounded the lightsome Figure above their heads: “Amen,” he said, “I am the First and the Last, the Alpha and the Omega. There is no god besides me. Behold: I have come at last, and my recompense is with me, to give to each as his deeds deserve.” All of history had been but a preamble to this moment. Now, all things would be fulfilled.
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