Friends, in the Gospel today, Jesus said to his disciples at the Last Supper: 'In a short time you will no longer see me and then a short time later you will see me again'. Did you ever wonder will you ever see again your loved ones who have died? We hope so but on what is that hope founded? It is a hope founded on these words of Jesus. He was telling those he loved that he was about to be killed. Afterwards they would see him again. And so they did, after the resurrection. He was different but had to retain something of his features for them to recognise him.
What this reminds us is our faith in the resurrection of the body. Jesus' risen body was transformed but did not come back from the dead as some vague spirit. His spirit was risen and so was his body. We believe that because we have been baptised into the life of Christ, we too will share in the corporeal existence of the risen Lord after our death. This is why we believe and hope to see our loved ones again. We will recognise them and be united of unbridled joy in the presence of God.
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