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The story
in today’s gospel of the woman who married seven successive brothers
reminded me of a woman I know. Now in her late 50’s, she’s been married
and divorced four times and is now contemplating a fifth marriage.
When I first met
this woman at a dinner party, she told me her story and, somewhere
during her utterly fantastic rendition―no one could ever make up this
stuff―she remarked that she was Catholic. So, when she brought up her
story again during dessert, I asked: “So which one is going be your
husband in heaven?” She laughed lustily and told all of us seated at
the dining room table that it definitely wouldn’t be her second husband
because she can’t countenance the man. He third husband was a
possibility and maybe her first husband, too. But, most likely, he’s
out of the running because he’s too selfish and controlling. Her fourth
husband was absolutely out of the running because all he wanted was a
mother to pick up after him, to clean the house for him, to cook his
meals, and to do his laundry.
Wagging my head
to and fro, laughing under my breath, and winking at the host who was
seated across the dining room table from me, I couldn’t believe what I
was hearing! I did, however, admire this woman’s candor, sincerity, and
sense of humor about her pathway in life. She may have made some bad
choices but she’s honest about them and can laugh at herself. Those are
good and admirable qualities.
So, the point of
this story is not that this woman has been married four times but that
she has been making choices all along about how she would live her
life. Focusing all of her energies on having a happy life, she has been
desperately searching for what she wants. What she should be searching
for, however, is what she needs.
Like this woman,
many of us oftentimes confuse what we want with what we need. Then, as
we do so, we really don’t live life. We think were alive but what we’re
really doing is wasting the limited amount of time we do have in this
life engaging in a vain search for everything that will never bring true
happiness. Where does all of this lead? To physical and spiritual
death.
Charles Rice, a
law professor at The University of Notre Dame Law School, noted
something in his book, 50 Questions on The Natural Law: What It Is
and Why We Need It, that has stuck in the back of my mind and I find
myself thinking about from time to time. What Professor Rice noted was
that we human beings are the only species on planet Earth whose members
are capable of contemplating their death. No other animal on planet
Earth has the capacity to do that.
Think about
that. We’re the only beings on this entire planet who can contemplate
the fact of our mortality.
Pets―like cats,
dogs, fish, and the like―can’t do that. Having absolutely no awareness
whatsoever of their mortality, these species of animals live out their
days not worrying about anything. They aren’t on the hunt searching for
everything they believe will make them happy. No, they value simple
things which make them very happy, almost ecstatic. They also don’t
worry about what today, this week, or next month will bring. No, acting
solely upon instinct, these animals go about their business seeking only
what they need in order to survive…and, they seem quite satisfied with
it. Lastly, they don’t fret about anything that’s beyond their ability
to control. No, they meander through their days immersed completely in
the present moment without any worry whatsoever about what’s coming
next. And, they don’t seem to be any worse for doing so!
When we compare
this relatively simple existence to the complexity associated with our
lives, it does seem idyllic, doesn’t it?
But, as Professor
Rice notes, we’re different from cats, dogs, fish, and the like.
Possessing the ability to contemplate our mortality makes us God-like in
one very important way: although we aren’t omniscient, we do know
infallibly that one day we will die. We don’t know how or when we will
die, but we do know this fact with absolute certitude. As all of us
have been told, death is one of two inescapable facts of human
existence, the other being taxes.
In today’s
gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that “God is not God of the dead, but
of the living, for to him all are alive.”
Oftentimes when
we hear this verse from Scripture, we direct our thoughts immediately to
the afterlife, as we contemplate what it’s like after death in the
resurrection of the dead. Directing our thoughts in this direction is
reasonable, I suppose, because Jesus was responding to the Sadducees, a
religious and political party of his era, whose members denied the
resurrection of the dead. For the Sadducees, all people had was this
one life to live and the best way to live it was by being obedient to
the Ten Commandments. Death was the end, fini, kaput,
nada, syonara bay-bay. The only real question was whether an
individual would rest in peace (in a state that would be sort of like a
permanent good night’s sleep) or whether an individual would be enduring
the unending pains of the underworld. These were the two consequences
of the choices people made in their lives. They either were or they
weren’t obedient to God’s commandments and the consequences followed
naturally from the choices people made.
So, it is
comforting to contemplate the idea that, through his death and
resurrection, Jesus won a third option for his disciples, namely, the
option of eternal life following the resurrection of the dead.
At the same time,
however, this focus upon the future resurrection of the dead can deter
us from contemplating the fact of our mortality and what this means in
terms of the quality of life we can choose to live here and now. The
author of Deuteronomy states the matter in these stark terms: “You have
before you two choices. Life or death.” And, he exhorts his readers:
“Choose life!”
Early in the Book
of Genesis, we learn that death is the consequence of disobedience and,
in particular, denying that we owe all that we have to God and are His
subjects. Death is the harsh consequence for disobedience. So, to
avoid with this harsh consequence, some of us make the mistake of living
each day pretending that we won’t ever die. Still some others of us
live in fear of dying. And, there are yet others of us who choose not
to contemplate what Professor Rice points out is the distinguishing
factor of our species. Death may be something all of us would
prefer to avoid; but, the simple fact is, we can’t. What we can do,
however, is to understand what the fact that we are mortal has to teach
us.
In The Apology,
Socrates explains to the jury why he doesn’t fear receiving the death
penalty. He basically argued, “Look, I’ve led a pretty virtuous and
happy life. If being dead is like permanently falling asleep, knowing
how much I do enjoy a good night’s sleep, what could possibly be wrong
with that? Or, if death is like attending a feast with all of
fascinating people of virtue and good will that I’ve never had the
opportunity to meet, what could possibly be wrong with that? What,
then, is there to fear?”
Of course,
Socrates wasn’t making his remarks flippantly. He was speaking directly
to his fellow citizens who were neither virtuous nor of good will…the
people of the jury. In Socrates’ mind, the reason they fear their
mortality is because they’ve spent their lives seeking what would make
them happy rather than seeking what they truly need. And, what they’re
now contemplating as they listen to Socrates’ testimony, is how they
will get rid of him for speaking the truth and making the people of
Athens feel uncomfortable.
When we don’t
contemplate the fact of our demise, it is very easy to chose to live our
lives in such a way that, in reality, we become “dead men walking.”
Along the way, we
live our lives worrying about so many things that we waste precious
minutes, hours, and days that otherwise could be filled with new
discoveries, new challenges, and new opportunities for serving others
rather than ourselves.
Along the way, we
choose to live our lives searching for things that will make us happy,
vainly believing that these are the things we really need to live a full
and happy life…however long that may be. But, we neglect to see how
transient all of those toys and trinkets really are, failing to realize
what the philosopher Boethius noted almost 13 centuries ago, that is,
“true happiness consists only in that which can never be taken away.”
Along the way, we
live our lives based upon what our calendars or PDAs dictate, duping
ourselves into believing that there will always be a tomorrow or next
month where we will undo the evil things we did yesterday. Doing so, we
meander our way through our lives not by extracting more life from each
day but injecting more death into our lives each day.
The distinctive
ability we human beings possess to contemplate our mortality teaches us
not only not to fear death but also to recognize what death is all
about. Death isn’t the end of life, as the Sadducees maintained. No,
in light of Jesus’ resurrection, death is the period at the end of the
sentence of our mortality and the prelude to the next paragraph in the
story of our eternal lives.
That’s why I
would suggest that the distinctively human capacity to contemplate
mortality is a gift that God has breathed into us, a wonderful gift, as
Professor Rice noted, that differentiates us from all of the other
species on planet Earth. When we use this gift properly, the sure
knowledge of our mortality makes it possible to make good decisions each
day about how to live our lives. Knowing that we one day will die, we
are free to “take charge” of the pathway we will walk during our days no
matter how long or how short the number of those days may be.
So, in light of
our mortality, it is good to ask ourselves: What do our desires,
especially those we act on, reveal about our priorities in life as well
as the content and quality of our character? Drawing up a list, what do
we throw our money at, expend our energy for, and work so hard to
acquire? Does our list condemn us as being selfish, loving ourselves
more than God and others? What do our checkbooks, calendars, and
sweat say about our lives? Are we choosing life or death?
We do not know
everything. Only God does. What we do know infallibly, however, is
that one day we will die. “God is the God of the living…,” Jesus told
his disciples. When we make our decisions conversant with the fact of
our mortality and the awareness of the eternal life Jesus’ resurrection
promises, the choices we make each day become more important than we
ever may have thought. The author of Deuteronomy states the matter in
these stark terms: “You have before you two choices. Life or death.”
And, he exerts his readers: “Choose life!” |
HOMILY
