And when this body which can wear out
is clothed with what cannot wear out
and this body which dies
puts on what never die,
then the word which is written will be fulfilled:
Death is swallowed up into victory,
Where Death, is your victory,?
Where Death, is your sting?

Now the sting of Death is Sin.
And the power of Sin is the Law.

But thanks be to God
who gives us the victory
through our Lord, Jesus Christ.

So then, beloved sisters /brothers
come to be firm
immovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord
knowing that your work is not in vain
in the Lord.

Eternal Light, shine into our hearts;
Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil;
Eternal Power, be our support;
Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance:
That we may seek your face
with all our heart and mind and soul and strength. Amen.

Alcuin

So, I affirm (all) this, brothers/ sisters:
(i.e. )
Flesh and blood cannot receive the kingdom of God.
no r does what wear out inherit what cannot wear out.

Look –
a mystery I am telling you.
We will not all die
but (we) all will be changed
– in a moment,
in the blink of an eye
at the last trumpet,
for (the trumpet) will sound
and the dead people will be raised enduring
and we shall be changed.

For it is necessary that this (body) which wears out
be clothed with what cannot wear out
and this (body) that dies
puts on what never dies…

God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.God, give me grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace,
Taking, as Jesus did,
This sinful world as it is,
Not as I would have it,
Trusting that You will make all things right,
If I surrender to Your will,
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with You forever in the next.

Amen.

But not the first
was the one of the Spirit
but the one of nature
then the one of the Spirit.
The first human came from the earth,
the second human is from heaven.

Like the one from the earth,
so are these from the earth.
and like the one from heaven,
so are these from heaven.

and as we have worn the image of the one from the earth,
so we will bear the image of the one from heaven.

Eternal Light, shine into our hearts,
Eternal Goodness, deliver us from evil,
Eternal Power, be our support,
Eternal Wisdom, scatter the darkness of our ignorance,
Eternal Pity, have mercy upon us;
that with all our heart and mind
and soul and strength we may seek thy face
and be brought by thine infinite mercy
to thy holy presence;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Alcuin (735-804)

So also the resurrection of the dead people,
It is sown as something decaying
it is raised something ‘full of life’
It is sown as something in humiliation
it is raised something glorious,
It is sown as something in weakness
it is raised as something powerful.
It is sown a body animated by natural life
is it raised a body animated by the Spirit.
Since there is a body (for this world) of nature
there is also a body (for the world-to-come) of the Spirit.
So also it is written:
‘The first man, Adam, became a living person¹,
The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

1. Genesis 2:7 ↩︎

Lord, you have given me so much,
I ask for one more thing –
a grateful heart.

George Herbert

(But now, Christ has been raised from the dead
the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.)

Otherwise what about those who have themselves
baptised for the sake of the dead
If actually the dead are not being raised
why are they being baptised for them?

And we, why are we in danger at each and every hour?
Every day I am dying,
I swear by my boast in you,
in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If according to a human point of view
I have fought with wild beasts in Ephesus,
what benefit could it to me?

If the dead are not raised
Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we will die,¹
Do not be deceived!

Bad cliques ruin good morals.
Sober up as you ought,
and do not sin,
for some people have no knowledge of God,
I say this to your shame.

1. Isa 22:13? ↩︎

O Love, O God who created me, in your love recreate me.
O Love, who redeemed me,
fill up in me whatever part of your love
has fallen into neglect within me.
O Love, O God, who first loved me,
grant that with my whole heart,
and with my whole soul,
and with my whole strength,
I may love you.

Gertrude the Great

But now, Christ has been raised from the dead
the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For since through a human (was) death,
so through a human (was) resurrection of the dead.
For just as in (the case of) Adam all died
so also in (the case of) Christ will all be made alive.
But each in their own order:
first Christ,
then Christ’s
at his coming.

Then the end (will happen)
when he hands over the kingdom
to God, and (his) Father,
when every rule , and every authority and power
will be destroyed.

For it is necessary for him (Christ) to reign
until he put all the enemies under his feet,

The last enemy being eliminated is Death.
For he (God) has put in subjection all things
under his feet.
For when he (God?) said that all things have been put into subjection
it is evident that
(all things have been put into subjection to Christ)
except for the One (God)
who put everything in subjection to him (Christ)

Moreover when all things are subjected to him (Christ)
then the Son himself
will be subjected
to the one
who subjected all things to him (Christ),
so that God might be
‘the all’
in all things.

Teach us, good Lord,
to serve thee as thou deservest;
to give and not to count the cost;
to fight and not to heed the wounds;
to toil and not to seek for rest;
to labour and not to ask for any reward,
save that of knowing that we do thy will,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

St Ignatius

Then, last of all,
– just as if
to one untimely born –
to me.
For I am the very least important of the apostles,
I am not fit to be called an apostle,
because I persecuted the church of God.
But by the grace of God I am who I am,
and his grace, towards me,
has not been fruitless,
rather
I worked harder
than all of them,
though not I,
but the grace of God
which is (working) in me.

So whether I or they,
in this way
we preach
and in this way you believed.

Thank you, dear Jesus,
for all you have given me,
for all you have taken away from me,
for all you have left me.

Thomas More (c.1478-1535)

For I as a priority
handed onto you
what I also received
that:
Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures
that:
he was buried
and that:
he was raised on the third day
according to the scriptures
and that:
he was seen by Kephas
then the twelve,
then he was seen by more than five hundred sisters/brothers at one time
the majority of whom remain until now,
though some have fallen asleep.
Then he appeared to Jacob (James)
then to all the apostles.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is discord, union;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy,
For your mercy and for your truth’s sake. Amen