● April 9, 2023 ● Easter ● ● ● ● ● ●
[__01__] The emotional tone of a wake is sometimes seen as more positive – and uplifting -- than a funeral (in church) due to the socially supportive atmosphere and the focus on the life rather than the death of the deceased.
A “wake” is often regarded as a especially
Catholic tradition of mourning in which we also gather in the presence of the
body of the person who has died.
[__02__] Many years ago, the wake or visitation to a person who had been terminally ill served a practical purpose … NOT JUST A SOCIALLY SUPPORTIVE PURPOSE… The family wanted to see if the person – over a a day or so …. could be revived, if her she would “wake up”.
This was also reflected in Jewish
tradition reported in the Gospel of John, chapter 11, the burial of Lazarus and
the raising of Lazarus.
We read that Lazarus was in the tomb
for 4 days. This was a specific detail because Jewish tradition was that the
soul and body separated in death after 3 days.
So, this 4-day interval made the
miracle of his Lazarus’ rising even more momentous. In other words, Lazarus had
really died.
And Lazarus had a remarkable
turnaround to tell people later, he could truly report, “You know, I almost
died once.” Not everyone can say this !
In Lazarus’ case, his “wake” was not
just a gathering to tell stories about someone who had died and was no longer
there, but to realize the Good News that Jesus had announced to his disciples:
“Our
friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.” So the disciples said to him, “Master, if he
is asleep, he will be saved.” But Jesus was talking about his death, while they
thought that he meant ordinary sleep.
So
then Jesus said to them clearly, “Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there,
that you may believe. Let us go to him.” (John 11: __)
It is important for John’s Gospel to
report in the Lazarus episode and in the passion and death of our Lord to
report the details that both Lazarus and Jesus have, in fact, died.
Lazarus might say and you and I might
say of her own fragile health or a serious condition – “I almost died” – but in
the case of Lazarus and Jesus, they were in fact deceased.
Recently, I was reading a short
autobiography, by a physician, a brain surgeon who is himself terminally ill as
a relatively young 30-xyz (check age) who died in March 2015. He died before he
“finished” the book. At one point he wrote about the importance of being
valiant and strong in the operating room, to work as hard as he could for his
patients…while outside the operating room to report to them in ways that they
could really understand, perhaps having to tell them more than once.
Isn’t it true we often need the
diagnosis and prescription from the doctor more than once? In the book, he also writes that the
original meaning of the word “patient” is the one who endures hardship and
suffering without complaint.
Though I have been a “patient” in
doctor’s offices, this definition – hardship and suffering without complaint –
does not match up with the name and date of birth on my chart.
[__03__] Is it not one of our greatest fears that not that we will die but that we may die far from home or far from family and friends or without assistance.
One traditional night-time Catholic
prayer that I favor is this –
“Protect us Lord as we stay awake,
watch over us as we sleep that awake we may keep watch with Christ and asleep
rest in his peace.”
In other words, regardless of whether
my doctor is available or my family or my friends, let me know Lord, that you
are here.
This is not only true when we are
feeling physically sick but also when we are quite well.
Do you ever wonder what the work of
your life, your actions in life, your
friendships, your taking care of your family, do ever wonder whether it has
enduring meaning?
And, for those who are older or infirm
– in our midst – or in our homes, the way that we treat them when they are
vulnerable witnesses to their lives having meaning.
Mother Teresa of Calcutta who cared
for the poorest of the poor in India often made observations about more
affluent people in the so-called “west” meaning west of India/Asia, western
Europe, the Americas. This could apply to West Orange 07052:
“The greatest disease in the West today is
not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure
physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and
hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are many more dying for a little love. The
poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty -- it is not only a poverty
of loneliness but also of spirituality. There's a hunger for love, as there is
a hunger for God.”
We come to church on Easter Sunday to
remember that Christ has died Christ is risen, Christ will come again. We also
come, knowing that it in God’s love that you have new life, whether you are
awake or asleep.
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