|
How many
times have you heard stories of spouses who lament they didn’t even say
“Good bye, I love you” when their husband or wife left home in the
morning the day he or she died? Guilt only compounds the surviving
spouse’s grief. “If only I had said ‘Good bye’ or ‘I love you.’ ” But,
as we all know, it’s too late to say anything now. Sadly, too, the
spouse died without ever hearing that final good bye or receiving that final
kiss.
All too many
young adults bound out of the front door on Friday or Saturday evenings
full of eager anticipation that they will soon be spending the evening
with friends at a dance or party. Without ever saying “Good bye, I love
you Mom and Dad” to their parents or giving them the opportunity to say,
as parents are wont to do, “Good bye, be careful. I love you, honey,”
inclement weather, youthful indiscretion, or sometimes evil itself
intervenes in the evening’s events, visiting young people in the form of
their mortality. Grief-stricken parents feel terribly guilty. “If only
I had said, ‘Be careful. I love you, honey.’ ” But, sadly, they also know it’s too
late. There’s nothing to say now that should have said then.
“If I only knew
then what I know now….” How often have you found yourself uttering that
statement?
In reality, that
statement is nothing but an excuse we invent to mask the burden of guilt
we feel deep within when we know we’ve failed to think about the “then” and what’s
“way out there beyond the horizon”—not as future events for which we have
lots of time to prepare—in the “here” and “now” of those sometimes
seemingly trivial things we oftentimes ignore because we took our lives
and the lives of others for granted. We believe the illusion that
there always will be another day.
In the movie,
Deep Impact, astronomers have discovered an asteroid the size of the
State of Texas on a collision course with Earth. Within one year, the
astronomers believe, catastrophe will strike. It is to be an event of
cataclysmic proportions, one likely to extinguish all human
life. After being briefed about this discovery, the President delivers
a prime-time address to the nation to inform the nation about the
impending disaster. In the speech, the President also asks his fellow
citizens to go about their daily lives as normal. “Go to work and
school. Pay your bills and taxes,” the President says. His message is
clear: don’t allow fear of the inevitable to paralyze you. No, he
asserts, make the most of each day. Why? Because there’s nothing
anyone of us can do to change the course of future events.
Likewise, when
we hear Jesus’ predictions about the end times, its easy to become
frightened and allow fear of what the future will bring to paralyze
us. “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom,”
Jesus says. “There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues
from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from
the sky.”
That was then.
But, this is now:
War in Iraq and
Afghanistan. The potential for war looming in Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia, the
Korean peninsula, and South America. International narco-drug
trafficking leading to the death of all too many young people in our own
neighborhoods. Rising numbers of divorce. Dissolution of the
traditional family. What was believed immoral just a few decades back
believed to be moral today. And, that’s to say nothing about
failing schools, virulent diseases resistant to pharmacological
treatment, rising interest rates and mortgage foreclosures, as well as
the astronomical number of cold-blooded murders perpetrated in our own
city, ironically named the “City of Brotherly Love.”
Yes, there
certainly is much to be frightened about in today’s world!
For centuries,
many people have tried to predict the “end times.” And, all of them
have been wrong. Throughout the Christian centuries, predicting the end
times has become somewhat of a cottage industry. Preachers have used these
predictions to scare the bejeezes out of the people in the pews in order to get them to
live more moral lives.
Jesus didn’t intended for his disciples to live in fear! No, rather than
allowing fear at what St. Paul calls “the day of the Lord” to paralyze
them, Jesus was challenging his disciples to adopt a different
attitude toward the end time, an attitude that would change the way they live their lives. This is how
“by your perseverance you will secure your lives”...here and now, today,
not at some distant point in the future.
The word
“persevere” means to be very strict, earnest, and steadfast. The change
of life Jesus is talking about is to be strict, earnest, and steadfast
by thinking about the “then” and the “way out there on the horizon” not as
future events but as the present reality, the “here” and “now” of what
appears in today’s sometimes seemingly trivial challenges where we can
demonstrate love of God and neighbor or fail to do so. When we ignore
these challenges falsely believing that we will have time to do so in
the future, we take our lives, other people, and God for granted. We
also allow ourselves to become slaves to materialism and
self-centeredness.
The end times
do not loom somewhere way out there beyond the horizon. No, Jesus
reminds his disciples, these are the end times! Today—not tomorrow, not
next week or month, and not next year—is the day of the Lord when those
seemingly trivial things will test our resolve to put first things
first. Then, as make the decision to we persevere by loving God
and neighbor as we love ourselves in the small and seemingly trivial
things that present themselves each day, we become the spiritual temple that is
the life of Christ alive within us. This is the Temple—built of
the Holy Spirit not of stone—which will never be destroyed.
To grasp this
concept and allow it to inform our decisions, we need to be
contemplative, that is, to take time each day to place ourselves in
God’s presence, to contemplate what love of God and neighbor require of
us, as well as to pray for what we truly need—not for everything we
want—as if it has already been given. That is how we invite the Holy
Spirit to transform hearts that can become filled with greed into hearts exuding
thankfulness. That’s how we invite the Holy Spirit to transform hearts
that can become paralyzed by fear into hearts radiating joy.
Yes, Jesus
desired his disciples fear all that’s going around them
which has nothing to do with love of God or neighbor and everything to
do with materialism and self-centeredness. But, rather than become
paralyzed by fear, Jesus desired that his disciples change things by
living their lives each day in light of the fact that they are going to
die to sin and rise to new life in the Resurrection.
We may
wish to be
disciples, but to do so we must fear evil and its manifestations but not allow
them to paralyze us. Our challenge is not to give in to fear but
to persevere because today—not tomorrow—is the day of the Lord. When we live in this
way, we witness to our faith by demonstrating love of God and neighbor here and now, not tomorrow or
the next week that may not come.
The revolution
Jesus began continues today as we respond with hearts full of
thanksgiving and joy to those sometimes seemingly trivial challenges,
like spouses telling each other and parents telling their children that they love them
before they walk out the front door each day and every night before bed.
It’s these little things that have the miraculous power to change our
lives, our marriages, our family, in fact, our entire world.
A brief
commercial break...
With only
36 days left until Christmas Day, the people at Magnificat® produce a
companion edition for the season of Advent. Similar to a what older
Catholics may remember as a "prayer book," the companion edition
contains all sorts of prayers, readings, reflections, art, and
activities for every member of the family to prepare each day of the
season of Advent for the coming of Christ at Christmas.
Grandparents might consider purchasing a copy for themselves and copies
for each of their grandchildren. Confirmation sponsors might consider
purchasing a copy for themselves as well as the person they sponsored in
the faith. Spouses might purchase a copy for themselves and use it for
daily prayer during the season of Advent. Parents might purchase a copy
for the family and use it to lead prayer before dinner each evening.
At a
price of $3.95 for 1-4 copies plus $1 shipping/handling, $2.50 for 5-9
copies plus $3 shipping/handling, and $1.50 for 10-49 copies (plus $5
shipping/handling), the companion edition makes a perfect and very
affordable opportunity to prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas
as well as an Advent gift to spur family, friends, and colleagues toward
greater spiritual growth during the season of Advent.
The
companion edition has a limited press run that sells out each year.
Furthermore, orders are filled in the order received. So, place your
order early.
To place
an order for the 2007 companion edition of Magnificat® for the season of
Advent, call
1-970-416-6670 or email
specialissue@intrepidgroup.com for ordering information.
In preparation
for Christmas, some Catholic trivia...
A student
asked me the other day for suggestions about where she might get an
Advent wreath.
The
answer I gave was a good one but, upon reflection, not the best answer.
In fact, upon completing a little bit of research, I found even most
parishes and pastors don't practice the best answer. The best
advent wreath (and Christmas wreath, by the way) is made of holly not
evergreen. The elements of holly (the holly itself and the red berries)
recall the crucifixion of Christ. He was crowned with thorns. The
thorns bit into his brow, causing red drops of blood to flow. No color
is more associated with Christmas than red, the color of Good Friday.
This symbolism is consistent with scripture: "By the Lord's stripes we
are healed." So, the holly is green, a color associated with life
and hope—reminding us of the birth of the Savior—and the berries are
red—reminding us of how the gift of eternal life has been won for us
through the blood of Christ.
I don't
think it's easy to find holly wreathes, but then, I've never looked for
one. I do know that a round metal wire holder and plastic holly
branches can be purchased at Michael's. That would do the trick. Then
remember: three purple and one pink candle. And, don't forget to
place the Advent calendar on the front of the refrigerator.
After the
student received and read my comments, she responded: "I wish parishes
would be more communicative about these sorts of things. It would make
it easier to pass on the religious traditions to children because you're
not just saying, 'This is just what we do as Catholics.' But you would
reveal the 'why we do it,' which I find is very effective with the kids
with whom I work."
|
HOMILY
