Given a recent wilderness adventure of mine, I've been thinking about it a bit more than usual the last few days...
John
and Jim loved baseball.
They
lived and breathed the sport
to
the point that they often speculated
on whether or not there would be baseball in heaven.
on whether or not there would be baseball in heaven.
They
agreed that whoever got there first
would
come back to let the other one know.
It so
happened that John died, and his friend grieved for days.
After
about two weeks,
Jim
awoke to a familiar voice calling his name.
It
was John, and he’d returned with the promised report.
“I’ve
got good news and bad news, Jim,” he said.
“The
good news is, there’s baseball in heaven.
We
play everyday!
The
bad news is…you’re scheduled to pitch next Tuesday.”
This
Sunday’s gospel makes abundantly clear
the
inevitably of death,
even
for those who are close to Jesus.
What
we see in the death of Lazarus
is
seen repeated in the lives of so many saints.
St.
Thérèse of Lisieux, a French Carmelite nun,
died
painfully from tuberculosis at the tender age of 24 in 1897.
Recognizing
her great holiness,
one
of the other sisters said to her that, when she died,
a
radiant choir of angels
Thérèse—ever
the realist—
wouldn’t
accept such attempts
to make death “pretty.”
But
she also refused to see death
as something fearful.
When
another sister said,
“Death will carry you off,”
Thérèse
quickly responded,
“No,
not death.
God
will come to take me.
Death
is not a ghost,
a
horrifying figure such as one sees in pictures.
It
says in the catechism that death
is
the separation of body and soul—
nothing more.
nothing more.
Well,
I have no fear of a separation
which
will unite me forever with God.”
Staying
close to Jesus may not spare us from death,
but
faith does have the power to rob death of its terror.
This
Sunday’s lengthy gospel
contains
the Bible’s shortest verse:
“Jesus
wept.”
Death
is not the Lord’s plan for us; it never has been.
Jesus
weeps, not because he believes that death is the end,
but
because it pains his Sacred Heart to see us suffer—
suffering
that’s a result of sin.
Yet
Jesus does not stop at shedding tears.
He
will proceed from Bethany to Jerusalem to shed his blood,
that
by his own dying on the cross and rising from the grave
death
might be swallowed up in victory.
The
sacred writings of the Hindus ask,
“What
is the greatest wonder of the world?”
And
the same text answers:
“That
all of us know that we will surely die,
but
each of us foolishly thinks he will not die any time soon.”
Do
I give death any thought—
and
not just generically or the passing of loved ones,
but
my own death, which could come at any time?
And
if I do think about death—
do
I see it as the end, as something final which I should dread?
Or
do I see death as a new beginning,
as
an opening to a life beyond this one,
which
has the potential to give meaning and purpose
to
every moment I spend on this earth?
I can’t be sure if there’s baseball in heaven,
but I do share the perspective of none other than Peter Pan:
“To die will be an awfully big adventure…”
We will soon enough walk again with Jesus
on
his way of the cross
It’s
a way that necessarily passes through death to new life.
Jesus
would not avoid it;
we
cannot avoid it.
So
why not be ready?
3 comments:
Fr, Joe,
I thought many times that I wanted to write to you and today I went to your blog again and saw your homily. It felt like I was getting a nudge from above…ok already …write him and thank him! I am Cori’s friend, Bernadette. You have been blessing my family’s rosary beads for the last couple of years. I started on a renewed spiritual journey 2 years ago. I had never gone very far but had a hard time really praying. I didn’t know how. My parents passed away and a friend bought me a ticket to see John Edward ( the medium..not the politician!) He talked about praying the rosary. He said you don’t even need rosary beads..just use your fingers. I didn’t have rosary beads…but I knew how to pray the rosary.. so I started using my fingers. I went to dinner with Cori and Claire and told them the story. Cori said “ I can get you rosary beads!” She brought them too me at work…in a little gold box. When she gave them to me… I felt the grace of God. And like the homily you wrote about the woman and her rosary beads, I am trying to pay it forward. The rosary beads that you have blessed are with my children and my husband everyday. I have relearned how to pray. It gives me great comfort to ask for support when I pray but to also give thanks. We all carry them with us. My husband is born and raised Episcopalian…he doesn’t know how to really pray the rosary but they are with him everyday. So I want to Thank you for your blessings… and I Thank you for your sister whose faith was so strong that she knew praying the rosary was important. Now getting back to why your homily today spoke to me! Both of my Grandparents died of tuberculosis when my dad was only 5 and 6 years old. He was orphaned but had aunts and uncles to care for him. My Great Aunt Peg wrote diaries back in those days…and when Helen (my grandmother) was dying…they called her their ”Little Flower” .Theresa is my confirmation name. So I’m sorry this is so long… but It is 2 years of wanting to say Thank you… Bernadette
You're VERY welcome, Bernadette! I'm so glad to hear from you--and to hear your story. (If I could offer one bit of advice: I know he got you back to the rosary and back to prayer, but stay away from Mr. Edward and all mediums from now on--they're rather dangerous, spiritually speaking.) Neat to hear your connections with St. Thérèse, as well. May God continue to bless you and your family! And please say "Hi" to Cori for me, too!
No need to worry Fr. Joe.. I start every day with a quiet moment and prayer and I have no interest in seeking the spiritual guidance of a medium... I am grateful though for that encounter with John Edward because I feel like I was meant to hear that message about the rosary... and for Cori saying... I can get you a rosary! And for your blessings too.. I know I can go to St. John Vianney Church and have my rosarys blessed but I just feel like they need to be blessed by you. And the homily Cori sent me to read about the woman who also was connected to the rosary and Her story about paying the rosary forward.. " Pray a decade for me...and I'll pray a decade for you" So sometimes the path to follow comes from and unlikely source! I thank you for concern... and I hope to stay in touch... Bernadette
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