Listen (2024-03-30, Easter Vigil)

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Homily, Easter VIGIL Sunday (year B) ●●  2024 March 31  ●● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

[__01__]    Blessed Easter Sunday to you, your family, your loved ones.

In the traditions of the Church, Easter is the time to celebrate baptism, especially during the Easter Vigil,  after sunset, symbolizing the transition from darkness to light.

 [__02__]     The Bible tells us of a prophet and teacher of God’s Word who was awakened and called by God at night time, while he was sleeping. This is the prophet “Samuel”.

          And, Samuel – actually “Miguel Samuel” is the name of our young friend who is here for the Sacraments of Initation. He is known by his family and by you and me affectionately as “Sammy”.

          Sammy will receive

Sacraments of Initiation at this Vigil: Baptism, Confirmation, and 1^st Holy Communion, after years of faithful attendance and instruction in the Catholic faith.

 

[__03__]      Who was Samuel in the Bible? His family and friends are also important. Hannah, his mother, prayed fervently for a child to be born

and “she called [him] Samuel, since she had asked [prayed to] the Lord for him.” (1 Samuel 2:20)

 The name Samuel means “God has heard”. And, the life of Samuel also about listening, prayer and being blessed.

Due to travel constraints, Eileen Reilly has graciously accepted the call to be Sammy's sponsor and godmother, embodying our spirit of support and prayer. We recognize you, Sammy as a blessing to your family and our parish family of Our Lady of Lourdes,

 [__04__]      In the Bible, Samuel learns to listen especially when he becomes becomes an assistant as a young person to the Temple priest, whose name is Eli.

          One night both Samuel and Eli are asleep. Samuel is asleep in front of the Tabernacle. Samuel is awakened by the sound of a voice and goes to Eli, saying, “Here I am. You called me”. Children sometimes wake up their parents and elders at night!

          Eli replies the 1^st (2^nd) time, “I did not call you, my son. Go back to sleep.”

          A 2^nd time à [italics]

          A 3^rd time à Samuel is awakened by a voice and goes to Eli, saying, “Here I am. You called me”.

          Eli now recognizes that God is involved and says: “Go to sleep and if you are called, reply ‘Speak, Lord for your servant is listening.’ ” (cf. 1 Samuel 3:1-10)

 

[__05__]   Samuel gives the example not only to listen each other but also to listen to God. Samuel gives a lesson to parents not only to teach their child to obey parental instructions but also to obey God’s wisdom.

 

[__06__]      Just as Jesus' resurrection sparked a period of awakening and intimacy with his disciples, so too does your baptism, my baptism which happened years ago remind us to listen to pray daily for strength.

Jesus rises and reunites with his disciples, for only for 50 days in person on earth, but these days are a prelude to a lifelong personal relationship with God, one we are all working on.

          The Good News of Jesus spreads not due to showy demonstration of the resurrection, but goes “viral” because Jesus meets tenderly and intimately with his friends building a personal relationship with them, reminding them of God’s mercy.

Our friend, here in this church Sammy.  Sammy's initiation marks a new beginning—a time for listening, prayer, and personal encounter with God. We are called to help Sammy by our prayers.

[__07__]      Like the prophet Samuel, we are called to pray before the Tabernacle, recognizing it as the sacred space for communion with God.

We also need your prayers, Sammy, whether offered at home or in church.

[__08__]       In the Bible, Samuel also had a key role as the one who anointed both King Saul and King David, the first 2 kings of Israel.

          But, Samuel the prophet learns from God that best kings and leaders are not just those who are tallest and strongest and eldest.

Samuel hears the Lord say, “man looks at the appearance but God looks into the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)  And, so David – who was the younger and apparently weaker– was selected and anointed by Samuel. As a predecessor to Jesus, David was greatest of the original kings of Israel

          Jesus is a descendant – in the family tree of David.  Similarly, Jesus will appear, many times, to be the weaker one, the compromised one described by Isaiah the prophet in our 1^st reading of Good Friday:

          “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.” (Isaiah 53:1)

          Yet, Jesus gives us a model of courage and blessing to follow and to unite ourselves to God in terms of community, communion and communication.

          I pray this Easter will remind all of us of our Baptismal call which we share with you, Sammy, as the People God and that we are called spiritual alertness to make the Prophet Samuel’s words our own when we are awakened: “Speak Lord for your servant is listening.” (1 Samuel 3:9)   [__end__]   

The Trials. Good Friday (2024-03-29)

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 [  Good Friday 2024 ]   There are multiple consecutive “trials” that Jesus must endure in the Gospel.

The 1^st trial has been going on for more than 3 years in his ministry. In this trial or test, Jesus is often testifying to those who do not fully understand what He is really teaching or doing. During this 3 year trial, Jesus raises the  dead, heals the sick, forgives sins and preaches God’s word.  In some cases, even those on his side do not quite get what is going on.

During this 1^st trial - recall that Jesus made – in the Gospel of Mark – 3 explicit predictions or prophecies of “Good Friday” his Passion and Death, 3 statements that were a call to humility for himself and his disciples. After 1 of these predictions, James + John came around with their famous request asking for “choice or 1^st class” seats at Jesus’ right and left. So much for humility.

So, the 1^st trial has been going on for a while.   There is evidence that Jesus is the Son of God but his witnesses are not reliable.  Even when Jesus does something as “popular” as multiplication of the loaves, Jesus’ approval is mixed. Some are ready to leave him when they realize the connection between the bread they just ate and his body and blood. So much for loyalty.

The 2^nd trial starts in the Gospel today. That is, Jesus has been “charged” accused of religious blasphemy and claiming to be the expected Messiah.

Wesley Smith, a Christian author, summarized it this way: “. A conviction of blasphemy under Jewish law required the testimony of at least 2 witnesses” but those who testified against Jesus couldn’t even get their stories straight.”   (https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2013/08/a-contemporary-review-of-the-trial-of-jesus)

The case against Jesus in this 2^nd trial is, so to say, “falling apart”.  No reasonable prosecutor will take this to trial and this is where the Gospel picks up and opens in the Gospel of John chapter 19 with Pontius Pilate – the governor - stating what the prosecutors did not want to hear:

“Look, I am bringing [Jesus of Nazareth] out to you, so that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” (John 19:__)

On a physical level, Jesus has proven to be “breakable” in that he has already been scourged, forced to wear the crown of thorns.  But nevertheless, Jesus is still around and he’s not yet been convicted of anything.

His enemies need a new way to put a stop to him.

So, like a basketball or soccer player trying to change directions to make a score, they pivot. This Passion Narrative today is the 3^rd trial in which Jesus hauled not only before Pilate but before King Herod and his accusers now redefine the charges as not being about “religion” but rather about “rebellion”.

In other words, Jesus should be regarded as a dangerous revolutionary who has claimed to be a King and thus he is a threat to anyone under the rule of the Roman Empire.

Pilate – who does not see Jesus as a threat says to the crowd – perhaps with sarcasm or tongue in cheek: “Behold, your king!” (John 19:___) 

The emphasis is from Pontius Pilate is to the crowd and to you – is that Jesus is YOUR KING, your authority.

Do you – do I – recognize this that Jesus is our King, our ruler?

In the end, Pilate in his weakness, washing his hands of the matter and does hand Jesus over to be crucified. And, Jesus is put to death as a revolutionary. So much for royal privileges!

 

In this trial, we see that Jesus is not simply a wrongly accused man with whom we can identify as an innocent victim. Rather, he is the Son of God and he gives new meaning to our own sufferings and trials.

 

There is a key moment in Jesus’ trial and sufferings when he is on the “witness stand” of the cross and he cries out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Pope Benedict XVI wrote that we might associate these words not only with our own trials but that of many in our world who are abandoned, suffering and marginalized by enemies or who live in poverty.

            “My God my God why have you forsaken me” is not problematic because so many are saying it, but because for many, the cry seems to be go unheard.

            B16 wrote that this cry echoes in our ears because we might say, “Where are you God that you could create such a world, that you can look on while your most innocent creatures often suffer the most terribly, as sheep are led to the slaughter and cannot open their mouths.” (Benedict XVI, “Good Friday Section I”, Dogma and Preaching, p. 288)

Children suffer who cannot open their mouths, unborn children, mothers and fathers also suffer who cannot open their mouths for help to their children.

Jesus is our model under trial.

Jesus is the lamb led to the slaughter who opens not his mouth, seeming powerless, seemingly chained and “behind bars”

But, it is precisely when Jesus is “behind bars” and chained that he shows even when gives up his life, he is not being pushed around:  “I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own. I have power to lay it down, and power to take it up again. This command I have received from my Father.”

When you and I give up ourselves generously, do we sometimes feel “pushed around” or “put down”? We are also being tested.

A powerful example of this is the 20^th century World War II era martyr in Auschwitz, Maximilian Kolbe to whom the opportunity came to give up his life for another. In the Auschwitz camp, a man was to be put to death and was a husband and father. Maximilian Kolbe, a priest, volunteered to take his place. The Nazi guards, caring only about their quota, their number, took Father Maximilian Kolbe who laid down is life freely.

 

You and I might not be asked for public martyrdom and certain death but we can demonstrate and strive for freedom not just by getting “time off” or “holiday”, but accepting suffering willingly.

2 of the spiritual works of mercy are: “To bear patiently those who wrong us. AND To forgive offenses.”

We can say today – Thank God it’s Good Friday because we have a model in Jesus of how to do this.

In our sufferings, large and small,

we can choose to lay down ouir lives and unite ourselves to Jesus who died on the cross and put our sins to death.

            And, in the confessional, going to confession, to a priest, he gives us the opportunity for forgiveness 70 times 7 over and over again.

            We are also on trial

Our trials are a parallel to ROUTINE EVERYDAY TRIAL OF JESUS, the RELIGIOUS TRIAL OF JESUS and the REVOLUTIONARY TRIAL OF JESUS.

ROUTINE. EVERYDAY.

For you and I might find ourselves on trial – on a daily basis – trying to remain faithful in many ordinary things, for years, on a routine basis. Jesus is our model in this regard as we also try to unite ourselves – as He did – to our Father in heaven.  In ordinary things, from making lunch or dinner for our families, to driving our children to where they need to be, in forgiving one another’s faults we are on trial each day. It is a trial based on humility and loyalty.

RELIGIOUS.  You and I might find ourselves on trial “religiously”. Jesus was put on trial for blasphemy, for religion. 

The Good Friday Gospel reminds us not to be afraid of being authentically religious and faithful. It is a MULTIPLE CHOICE test… with multiple choices being to be virtuous in terms of our speech, in terms what we say, in forgiving other’s faults in coming to church regularly. These are multiple choices and opportunities to witness to those who do few or none of the above

REVOLUTIONARY    You and I might at times be on trial for being too “revolutionary”. These days, the Gospel virtues of marriage, family, the sanctity of life,  or even just the choice to have a regular traditional Funeral Mass for a loved one with time for prayer and visitation and Mass. These regular ritual is often accelerated and it may seem revolutionary or reactionary to do things more slowly.

Jesus’ suffering as the  Son of God gives new meaning to our suffering.

As St. Paul writes in Romans: “all things work together for those who love God ”. Suffering in this regard can be something good.  Thomas Merton writes: To believe in suffering is pride: but to suffer, believing in God, is humility.

As we are on trial, we are also witnesses called to believe and speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  So help me God.

          God, come to our assistance in pursuit of this goal.  END

Unless a Grain of Wheat.... (John 12:24) (2024-03-17 - 5th Sunday Lent)

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●●   Homily, 5^th Sunday Lent (year B)  ●●  2024 March 17  ●● Jeremiah 31:31-34 ● ● Psalm 51 ● ●Hebrews 5:7-9 ● ●  + John 12:20-33 ● ●

Bibliography:

·        Thomas Merton, No Man Is An Island, “The Word of the Cross”, pp. 77-78.

·       The Necessity of Confession and Its Seal, Homiletic and Pastoral Review, November 30, 2018, John M. McDermott, S.J. (https://www.hprweb.com/2018/11/the-necessity-of-confession-and-its-seal/)

·        https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/how-irish-changed-penance

[__01__]   A few years ago, as my car was on its quote unquote “last legs”, I remained determined to keep fixing it, repairing it, rather than trading it in or buying a different car.

          I was spending money year after year for the health and wellness of my vehicle.

          Should I move on …?

          My mechanic seemed to indicate this one day when I showed for another repair that I wanted to make but also did not to spend too much on. He stood over the car as though he was the priest at a burial at the cemetery and made the sign of the cross over the car.

          While he was not doing a religious ritual, he was reflecting something about what sign of the the cross, the carrying of the cross, the stations of the cross mean, whether in Lent, on Good Friday or beyond.

 [__02__]  What does the cross or the sign of the cross mean to you and me?

          Jesuit Father John McDermott wrote that the CROSS and the way of the cross is call for you and me to be converted, to be raised up.

          In other words, the In reflecting on the sign of the cross, embodies more than just closure or the END… but even the sign of the cross at the end of Mass is not about finishing up what we have prayed here…but starting over with a new beginning.

          In other words, while Jesus death on the cross calls us to dying and rising to new life.

          This does not simply mean a “trade in” of old ways for new ways to God as the dealer who does all the work for us. There is work for you and me in taking up the cross each day. In other words, the Cross is not just about Jesus evening up the good vs. evil competition because Jesus accepts a penalty on himself “takes one for the team”  so you / I don’t have to get punished

 

[__04__]  Father John McDermott was questioning a viewpoint that you or I might have that “The cross is cannot be explained simply as God’s way to show His love to basically good people. The Cross would be a most repulsive way of expressing love”

          The Cross is “repulsive” – even offensive – because it involves the willful surrender of Jesus – as the innocent victim -- to those who are not innocent, in fact to those who do not even know entirely what their actions mean: Jesus from Calvary: “Forgive them, Father, they know not what they do.”  (Bibl Referenc___)

          In taking up his cross, Jesus is showing his concern and compassion.

          I.e., that Jesus Christ as the “true lover must first sacrifice himself for his beloved.”

          Or, as John the Evanglist writes in the Gospel today:

          “Unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24)

          We can bear fruit and flourish by our sacrifices in love of God and neighbor.

 

[__05__]  In this season of mid-March, we recall the lives and feast days of 2 saints whom the Church remembers for their self-sacrifice.

          On March 19, the final evening of our St. Joseph Novena which is really our parish’s Lenten retreat – which you can also watch on our Parish YouTube channel – we recall St. Joseph as patron saint of the church.

          From Joseph, Nazareth and beyond, we learn the virtue of self sacrifice, and truly resting in God’s presence.

          From St. Joseph, we learn the virtue of self-sacrifice and resting in the presence of God. Joseph, through his dreams and actions, exemplifies both surrender and productivity under divine influence. Similarly, our understanding of productivity and rest is reshaped by the Christian concept of Sunday as the first day of the week—a day of rest followed by work, mirroring Joseph's pattern of listening and resting.

          Joseph gives us a model of self sacrifice:

          “Unless the grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a single grain, but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24)

          Joseph is also a model of true productivity and possibility in light of God’s influence.  For my part, I also enjoy being productive and proving myself accordingly, and perhaps realizing I have earned – merited – a rest at the end of my labors.

 [__06__]  In fulfillment of the Jewish covenant, there is a new twist on it means to work and rest. In the original covenant, the Sabbath is the 7^th day, after the 6 days of work and creation. That’s logical and may reflect our own view of “Sabbath” = “weekend”. But the Sabbath day Sunday is not the end of our week, but the beginning. This is the “end” or purpose of the Sabbath and the sacraments: to begin again.

          But the Christian fulfillment – and Resurrection – makes the Sabbath not the last day of the week, but the first.

          I.e., we rest first, then we work. Joseph did the same in his 4 dreams and resting and listening

 

[__07__]  This 5^th Sunday of Lent also coincides with St. Patrick’s Day on March 17. Notably, the famous NYC Manhattan St. Patrick’s Parade is moved to Saturday when the 17^th is Sunday. The Sabbath takes priority, comes first.

 

[__08__] It’s an important part of Irish Christianity and Catholicism that  teaches us something about examining our lives and beginning again, in gong to confession for our sins.

          The Irish Catholic tradition is important here in Church history.

This is the meaning was given to an ancient practice in the Church, through the monks, brothers and priests of Ireland starting around the year 600.

As the Catechism of the Catholic Church summarizes it: “During the seventh century Irish missionaries, inspired by the Eastern monastic tradition, took to continental Europe the ‘private’ practice of penance, which does not require public and prolonged completion of penitential works before reconciliation with the Church. From that time on, the sacrament has been performed in secret between penitent and priest.”

“gradually the practice came to include confessing faults to a highly trusted brother monk, who became known as the anamchara (animae carus), or “soul friend.” (“soul” is not “sole” or “solo” but S-O-U-L, God’s spirit in us). The abbot or fraternal anamchara would pray with the penitent and prescribe actions to help him overcome his failing. Certain monks renowned for their spiritual advice became popular confessors. Eventually, people outside the monasteries began coming to those monks to confess their sins.”

(https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/how-irish-changed-penance)

 

 

[__10__]  There is no greater “soul friend” than JC Himself whose words and life live on in the Catholic priesthood and sacrament of penance and reconciliation.

          As the Church, we have the responsibility not only to DENOUNCE and REJECT sinfulness, but also to RENOUNCE and REFORM ourselves.

          The priest is in the confessional as a soul friend to you. You might resist this idea based on the priest himself being a sinner and a human being.

          Yes, guilty as charged!

But the priest is not there to represent himself but rather Jesus Christ and the Church.

          You have a right to hear from JC and the Church. You are a daughter or son of the Church.

          I’d like to make an analogy.

          You, as a child, of your parents have a right to their love and wisdom. You may not have had perfect parents. You may have had very imperfect – broken – parents.

          But, when we turn to them, we have a right to expect something that will heal us, change us, convert us, because of their love for the family.

          In fact, the “end” or purpose of their lives was to help you begin. The “end” or purpose of all of our lives – towards young people – is to help them begin and begin again.

          Even the “corrections” we make toward them is to help them as a  renewal rather than a rejection.

          If we turn to our parents in a crisis, we expect our sins or difficulty to stay “in house”, not to go out on social media or even to other family members.

          There is a parallel of this family confidentiality to the confidential seal of confession.

          It is the calling and endeavor of the priest to allow you to confess your sins and also to keep it all “in house.” This is the absolutely confidential seal of confession.

          To put it bluntly, what happens in the confessional stays in the confessional.

          But what happens on Calvary, on the Cross, does not stay on Calvary.

          In his more public Passion, Death and Resurrection, Jesus’ mercy goes out to the whole world, to you and me as individuals, to Our Lady of Lourdes parish family (which we give thanks for this weekend,), so that all of us might put on the new man, the woman in Christ to be re-made in holiness and wholeness.

          Jesus’ mercy blooms and flourishes. He is the grain of wheat that falls to the ground and dies.

          Because he dies, he bears much fruit. This fruit, this growth is your life, the forgiveness of your sins, a new beginning. You and I can begin again.

  [__end__]  

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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