“Jesus said to them, .. ‘he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.’” Lk. 20:38
In the film ‘Dead Poets’ Society’, Robin Williams plays a gifted and dedicated teacher in a school with a long and distinguished tradition. In one scene, he takes his class of boys down to the school entrance hall, which is decorated with photographs of all the young men who have passed through the school over the years. He stands his class in front of one year group and asks them to imagine what word of wisdom these young men – all now long since dead – might pass on to them across the years. As they lean forward to try to imagine what their predecessors might say, Williams whispers the words: “Carpe diem”, ‘Seize the Day!’ That phrase captures a major theme of the film: not to let opportunities pass by, to make the most of your life, and ‘seize the day’.
Up and down the country today there are photographs of young men and women, who having left school have given their lives in the cause of the freedom that you and I enjoy. Writing this homily a week in advance I find myself wondering how well the Gaza settlement will be holding out and just what will the latest news be of Ukraine?
Remembrance Sunday this year, I believe, says two things to us.
Let’s think first of those whose names appear on War Memorials up and down the country and those who lie buried in cemeteries across the world, near where they fell in conflict. Looking at their photographs Williams might well have reminded his class of the Burma Message:-
“For your tomorrow we gave out today”.
Secondly we must think of those called to active service today and so we must think
again, of the film’s theme, “Carpe diem”, ‘Seize the Day!’ The day, for which those we pray for today, would have been ‘Tomorrow’!
We learn of their tomorrow in our Gospel – Jesus talks specifically on the promise of resurrection, that life that is totally different, that is certain, peaceful and eternal. We remember them with thanks and with pride. But what do we do with the ‘today’ they one for us?
I was particularly struck by the conclusion of the latest series of ‘All Creatures Great and Small’; it centred around VJ Day 1945, as the villages lit their beacon the scene spread across the Dales as more and more beacons lit up the sky. As the Remembrance Season concludes on Tuesday, I believe we are all called to be such beacons of hope. How? We can ‘Seize the Day’ and put aside those petty hatreds and bigotries that cause dissension in our own lives. We can ‘Seize the Day’ and pray daily for world peace, for strength for those who can bring down perpetrators of evil and violence and for the safety of those who seek to bring relief in war-torn areas.
The Burma soldiers did indeed leave us a message: -
“For your tomorrow we gave out today”.
As we offer this Mass for them and all who have given their lives in conflict, Jesus gives us a calling:-
‘he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.’”