Hey, Tbolt,
This may be an area where you “agree to disagree” with your friend. Both of you believe that we will be physically resurrected; the difference is that your friend believes the soul stays with the body, sleeping until the Second Coming. Obviously, we don’t.
When we die, our soul is separated from our flesh. (Eccl 12:1,7)
Rev 6:9 shows that deserving souls are already in Heaven.
Even more direct is this: " We are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord." (2 Cor 5:8, RSV) How can we be away from the body and at home with the Lord, if “soul sleep” is true?
The quote you’re looking for is Jn 6:39. He says it a few times after that, until the end of the chapter. It’s not a good one for defending our beliefs about Heaven, though. But it’s great for defending the Eucharist.
As for our mother Mary, start with Kings 2:19-20. David’s mother is given a throne on his right, and he says he will not refuse her anything. Though the verse doesn’t say so directly, the seat on the right is a seat of power. (Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father.)
In those days of multiple wives and political alliances through marriages, having a wife as his Queen could lead to all sorts of repercussions. For one, she would probably be more loyal to her family than to David. Also, putting one wife above the others could lead to resentment on the part of the other families. Thus, having his mother as his Queen only makes sense, since her loyalty would be to him.
Further evidence of this is found in Kings and Chronicles. There are around thirty examples of verses like this: “Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.” (1 Kings 22:42, RSV)
Now, why would it be important to mention the mother’s name, if she didn’t also hold an important position? Plus there is historical evidence that the Queen Mother had a special mission to intercede for the poor and hopeless, and not just among the Israelites. (I wish I could cite it, but my memory is shot.)
So the Jewish Kings had a special role for their mothers. Why would Jesus, the King of the Jews, not have this same role for Mary?
Then there is the commandment to honor our fathers and mothers. We know very well how Jesus honored His Father! Why, then, would he reduce His mother to an anonymous, powerless role? Why wouldn’t He bodily assume her into Heaven, as His Father did for other important people?
Another argument for this is relics. We Catholics have and treasure all sorts of relics of the Apostles and other saints. We have splinters of the true Cross; we have the Shroud of Turin. We have no relics of Jesus’ body, because he Ascended, as any Christian agrees.
If Mary is so important to us, why would we not have relics of her? Her tomb would be a pilgrimage site; her bones would be scattered over the earth; her funeral wrappings would be held in high esteem. There would be numerous fake relics of Mary. But there are not. Why? Because she was bodily assumed into Heaven.
Lest you give me credit with coming up with these arguments about Mary, they aren’t mine. Credit belongs to Thomas Smith, who taught my first year of the Denver Catholic Biblical School.
Hope this helps.
God bless you,
Ruthie
deserves an other one:thumbsup: doesn’t scripture also say when the spirit is asleep sin abounds??..