The End In Mind (2024-03-11, St. Joseph Novena)

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Homily, Novena – March 11, 2024  ●●  2024 March 11  ●●  Monday of 4^th week of Lent  Readings:  ● ●  + John 4:43-54 ● ●

 [__01__]  In the Gospel episode of this journey of Jesus (John 4:43-54), we receive a glimpse into the Lord’s vision/attitude at a time of crisis, when someone is in need.

          Jesus’ words – at face value – suggest that he is not very concerned about the well being of the man’s son.

          Jesus seems – on one level – annoyed that he is being asked for yet another miracle and replies not to the person individually but to persons in general by whom he is asked for favors.

Jesus replied, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you do not believe.” (John 4:___)

         

[__02__]  It was not very long ago, about 5 years ago, that I successfully figured out for the very first time, how to take action – on my own – in the event of a flat tire on my car..

          Up to this point, I would call for roadside assistance, triple A.

          I felt proud – perhaps too much so – that I figured this out.

          Nevertheless, I cannot solve every problem on my own. Recently, I had a crack in my windshield.  That required way more expertise and intervention than I could offer. I needed, for this, to bring the car in. It could not even be done “roadside”

 

[__03__]  There is a man in the Gospel who approaches Jesus and who is calling for “roadside assistance”, meaning he is out on the road flagging down our Savior. His car is not in trouble. It’s more serious. His son is very ill and he wants the Lord to make a house call.

 

[__04__]  Jesus seems to resist the request, but he also knows the man needs help.   It seems that the Lord does not want to prove himself with every successive miracle.

 

[__05__]   In order for me to live in Christ with faith, integrity, joy, I am not saying – as the song goes – all I want is a miracle…. But I do live in faith much more readily when things are going my way.

          Been there? Done that?

 

[__06__] This instance in John chapter 4 is similar, a parallel, to Jesus’ behavior at another health-crisis moment, that of the dying Lazarus who is miles and kilometers away. When the news goes out, everyone is losing his or cool. The disciples want to make the journey right away. Let’s deliver roadside assistance!  Meanwhile, Jesus presses PAUSE and shows up 2 days later. During this delay, Lazarus has died and is already buried.

          Then, as we know, Jesus raises Lazarus from the tomb in spectacular fashion.

 

          Question: Why the delay?

          Answer: Jesus used the raising of Lazarus and this event in John chapter 4 to prepare the world for what was to come, his own death and resurrection which – by the way – was not understood or communicated by everyone or to everyone right away.

          This “delay” and variation in comprehension was seen on the road to Emmaus  (Luke 24)

 

[__07__] The Road to Emmaus (Luke 24) Soon after Jesus’ passion, death and resurrection, there was an episode in which 2 disciples are leaving Jerusalem after Jesus’ death, going to Emmaus and discussing what had just happened.  To these 2 disciples appears a 3^rd mysterious traveler. It’s Jesus but they do not recognize him.  Jesus asks them, “what happened in Jerusalem?” They reply incredulously because they cannot believe anyone would be unaware and they say, “Are you the only traveler to Jerusalem who does not know what happened there in these past few days?“ (Luke 24).

          This is an ironic question because Jesus is – in fact – the only one who does know what really happened!

 

[__08__]  A couple of years ago, my friend’s elderly father – Robert - passed away after a long illness. Robert an was also a father figure and friend to me whom I have known since high school.

          I was honored to be at Robert’s funeral and burial which reminded me of a family tragedy in his life when were all much younger. It was 1982 and Robert’s daughter had just died as the result of a sudden accident on the road on their neighborhood.

          The moment stands out to me as one of the first times I attended a funeral not only because my parents had a connection, but I did as well.

I still remember how they were dressed. It was also a very hot summer day, but the temperature was not really the problem.

          Remembering all of this, at Robert’s funeral, and many events since 1982 to the present, I could see how many of their choices were shaped by the death of a child. I think they made good choices as a result. But, they did not make easy choices.

Certainly, their faith also sustained them.

          We do not fully understand our lives or the lives or the lives of others as they are happening. We can understand some things and thus we really need the silence of prayer and meditation.

          But, we may only understand certain things at the end, after someone dies or when we face our own deaths and mortal nature.

          St. Paul writes in 1^st Corinthians, comparing our current “vision” on earth to our future vision in heaven:

“For we know partially and we prophesy partially, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.   When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things.  At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.  So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:9-13)

         

[PAUSE]

 

[__09__]  St. Joseph is known as the patron saint of the dying and the patron saint of a happy death.

None of us knows the “when” r the “where” of our death. Yet, the mortality rate is hovering around 100%

The Church invites you and me to prepare for our deaths, even to the prepare for the next Funeral we will attend.

It is good and salutary for us to attend the wake and funeral for loved ones, not just for our most intimate family and friends but also for neighbors, for extended family, for classmates.

Is it not good for us to reminded of our hopes and prayers:

For example:

“Lord Jesus Christ,  by your own 3 days in the tomb, you hallowed (you blessed) the graves of all who believe in you and so made the grave a sign of hope that promises resurrection

even as it claims our mortal bodies.

 

Grant that our brother, may sleep here in peace until you awaken him her to glory,

Grant that our sister, may sleep here in peace until you awaken her to glory,

for you are the resurrection and the life.

Then they will see you face to face and in your light will see light and know the splendour of God, for you live and reign for ever and ever”

 

[__10__]   Reflecting on these words is not only about MORTALITY, but also about REALITY.

          There is a business-management wisdom “mantra” that is not religious per se, but has a connection to our journey.

          Stephen Covey wrote/declared that an important habit to cultivate is to “begin with the end in mind”

          This applies not just to a negotiation or the pursuit of wealth.

          It also applies to our view of death.

 

[__11__]   Of course, we might prefer to think of death. Death is the enemy.

          And, we might prefer to keep the enemy at bay with all sorts of comforts and conveniences and distractions.

          Naturally, we seek self-preservation. But, reflecting on death is not self-destructive. It is self-instructive.

          But, it can be difficult.

          Lent and the 40 days of Lent introduce this, in case you did not know that’s why the dust is placed on your forehead and mine:  “Remember thou art dust and to dust thou will return.”

          Then, Ash Wednesday and Lent introduces fasting and abstinence, perhaps the discomfort of either or both.  Real sacrifice and hunger are daunting. They remind us of our mortality. Thus, they are called mortification.

          But these Lenten practices – which are not really confined to these 40 days – help us to keep the end of our lives in mind.

 

[__12__]    I pray that this Novena and our Lent will remind us of our need to pray for own salvation and to pray for those who have died, to pray for the souls in Purgatory, to pray for those may have been forgotten or unknown, those who died suddenly.

          It does not matter how long ago someone died. Pray for him or her now. In God there is no timetable. Your prayers are relevant now. If they deceased person/soul is not in need of your prayers – say the person is already in heaven – God will apply your prayers to someone in need.

[__13__]     St. Joseph is the patron of the dying because it is the Church’s Tradition that he ended his days, dying at home in Nazareth in the presence of Jesus and Mary.

          Of Jesus, of course, we learn very little of his life and words. And, post-mortem, there is no obituary. But that does not mean there is nothing to say.

          Sometimes, I dare say, the obituary for people we know cannot really communicate the essence of a person of what the person was really like.

          From 1994 to 2009, there was a reporter at an Atlanta newspaper who became famous for her effective writing and ability to capture the essence of a person in obituary. Her name was Kay Powell. She had a motto on her desk, anticipating the mysterious nature of her work, proclaiming:

 “God is my assignment editor”

 

[__14__]     God is also your assignment editor and my assignment editor, inviting us – before write anything or produce anything- to read the story of our lives in light of Jesus’s Passion, Death and Resurrection.

 

 “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die…”  (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2a)

 

As Jesus said to Martha after Lazarus’ death and burial:

“Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:24)

          Martha was invited, as we all are, to begin with the end in mind.

 

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