XXXII Sunday Ordinary Time – C (Nov. 10, 2013)
Gospel reading: Luke 20: 27-38
Fr. Charles Johnson, O.P.
Thankfully, both were
spared long agonizing illnesses. Still,
the losses have left me and many others in a state of mild disbelief. These were gentlemen I recently had the
opportunity to chat with and all seemed well.
They are gone now, but each one touched the lives of many people over
the years.
Both cases seemed rather
sudden, but both were able to “let go” in their respective deaths. I do not consider them as deceased, but as
having passed on. That seemed to be
their understanding as well.
In the midst of life,
death is never very far removed. How do
we deal with death or how do we view it?
For some, death can bring on a sense of existential angst. Others might find denial to be the best
policy.
Still, death is
there. It can be painful. The emptiness brought on by the absence of a
loved one is a difficult burden. Try as
we might, preparing for the death of a loved one is an elusive task.
Fr. Henri Nouwen writes,
“The same love that forms the basis of our grief is also the basis of our
hope.” In other words, our hope is
authentic the more it is in relationship with our suffering. Hope is not a feeling, but God’s response to
our fears and weaknesses.
In the banquet of life,
do we consider death as an unwanted and unwelcome guest? Or, do we leave a space at the table and in
our lives for the mystery of death?
Do we fully understand
what Jesus teaches us when he says, “He is not God of the dead, but of the
living, for to him all are alive.”
Do we recognize in the
example and words of Jesus that life is greater than death? That in his giving of himself, we might have
life and have it to the full – A fullness that transcends and goes beyond the
limits of what we know, but, hopefully, not beyond what we believe and trust.
In reflecting on his own
personal struggle and questions on this deep subject, Fr. Nouwen says that
often it is the case that our souls know about the victory of Jesus over death,
but that our minds and emotions have not fully accepted it.
He writes that we need to
trust the victory of Christ over the power of death and let our mind and
emotions gradually be converted to the truth – the truth that God’s mercy and
love go beyond the grave.
In Him, all are
alive. Does the love of God need for a
heart to still be beating in order to be effective?
In the letter to the
Romans, St. Paul writes, “For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die,
we die for the Lord; so then, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”
Through our baptism, the
Church teaches that we are united to the death and resurrection of Christ. It’s not about sharing the same experiences,
but union with Him.
Death changes how we relate to Jesus, but our relationship with him is eternal.