www.byzcath.org Forums Faith & Christian Life Faith & Theology The Phrase "Reposed in the Lord"

I am wondering about the phrase "Reposed in the Lord" used when someone dies. I recently realized that it seems as if we are saying every dead person is in Heaven. We don't really know whether they went to Heaven or Hell or Purgatory, do we? Is there some other meaning for that verbage that I am missing?

I haven't been able to get an answer to this question from my Melkite Pastor, so I posted it here. No one has answered it here either though. Is it because the topic is not important, or is it because people do not know the answer? Any idea where I can find the answer?

Thanks for your time,

AllCatholic:

Christ is in our midst!!

Let me take a stab. As a funeral director, we are very conscius of a family's grief. Many times this phrase finds its way into obituaries because it is a statement of hope. No one knows the heart but God alone and no one can know how God has been working within the deep recesses of a person's being but Him alone. But we go on in hope.

Ultimately, we all are in need of His Great and Rich Mercy. Because no matter how much we have struggled, we don't make it on our own efforts or on what we accomplish. The Lord loves the struggle--the falling down, the repentance, the refocus on Him; the repeat of all that.

I hope to repose in the Lord's arms. Whether I get there depends on His Great Mercy. I know what ugliness is in here where I live. But I also know He can work in and through ugly so I try to focus on Him day in and day out, letting Him do the repairs.

Bob

"Reposed" means to "sleep" or "rest". "Repose" has roots in the Latin word " repausare" (sort of "to pause").

To "Repose in the Lord" means to "fall asleep in the Lord". To die.

1 Thessalonians 4: 13-15 - We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord,[d] that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

This is also discussed here:

1 Corinthians 15:20-23 - But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

If we repose in the Lord (that is, if we die believing in Christ) then at Christ's coming again we will be raised up with him.

John:

I think AllCatholic is asking about the idea that everyone gets to Heaven--regardless. That seems to be a misunderstanding that is commonly heard these days. Who is "in Christ," it seems to me, only He knows. I think that's why so many people have turned away from Christian burial services where it seems, in the desire to comfort the family and other survivors, eulogies and sermons are made to sound like canonizations. I like the story from the Desert Fathers where an abbot with many years and many under his jurisdiction says on his dethbed that he's not sure if he's begun to live the Christian life, but trusts the Lord and His Great Mercy--since, as he says, the Lord's judgements are not the same as those of men and he does not presume to know them.

Bob

Bob,

You might be right in your comments.

We don't know who will get to heaven. We only know that those who die in Christ will be made alive in him at the Second Coming. Can't say much more than that.

John

It sounds like people are saying we repose/rest in the Lord after we die until we have our final judgment, which is when we may go to Hell or to Heaven. Do I have it right?

Yes.

Great. Thanks.