The Resurrection And Everlasting Life

 

Now that Jesus has died for us and risen in glory, the gates of Paradise that had been closed to us because of Adam and Eve’s sin have been opened up again. Not only do we have hope of living beyond this life, we have the hope that it will be a glorious, joyful existence. We won’t just be souls drifting along aimlessly in a gray mist. But we hope to be resurrected- both body and soul- to rejoice in the presence of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit for all eternity.

 The sad thing is that, even though it has been almost two-thousand years since Jesus rose from the dead, most people still live as if this world is all that there is. They are not even thinking about life after death. Their only hope is in this world and what it offers. In their minds, earth is the only Paradise we can ever know. The only thing that makes sense to them is to live for today.

 However, as Christians, the resurrection of Jesus Christ has opened up a new horizon for us. There is more to our existence than just our earthly life. Our eyes are fixed on more than what this world can offer. Rather, our goal is eternal life with Jesus. That is what we strive for. That is where our hope lies.

 Saint Paul tells us in Sunday’s second reading, “So, if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Col 3:1-2 RSV). 

This is the wonderful truth that we proclaim. Our resurrection from the dead and the eternal life that Jesus has won for us is not just a future event. It is not like a ticket we cash in on only after we die. It is a reality that we are already living because of our baptism. That is why Saint Paul can say, “SINCE you have been raised.” He doesn’t say WHEN you are raised or UNTIL you are raised. He talks about it as a reality that has already happened. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead opened up a new possibility of life which is ours through baptism and faith.

 This is how Saint Paul puts it in his letter to the Galatians, “...I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2: 19b-20 RSV).

Our life here on this earth is an extension of the risen life of Jesus Christ. If we have been baptized, then Christ is living in us. It is Jesus’ breath in our lungs. It is His strength in our limbs. It is His love beating in our hearts and His hope running through our veins. We have been raised with Jesus, so our faith is what must guide us.

Grace Happens

 

 Saint Paul, on the way to persecuting Christians in Damascus, had an encounter with the Risen Jesus who interrupted his plans and changed his life forever. Instead of being the great persecutor of Christians, he became the greatest missionary for Jesus who ever lived. Grace “happened” in Saint Paul’s life, and the world has never been the same.

In last Sunday's second reading, Saint Paul writes, “even when we were dead in our transgressions, [God] brought us to life with Christ- by grace you have been saved.” Our salvation is a free gift of God. He doesn’t give it to us as a reward for any good we have done. In fact, it is precisely because we are sinners that He comes to rescue us. There is nothing we can do to earn it. It is a simple gift of His love. The word “grace” comes from the Latin word “gratia” which means “free” and communicates this idea of God’s love as a rich expression of His mercy to us.

 In last Sunday’s gospel, Jesus tells Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.” There are many ways that God could have saved us from our sins. But He chose to send His only Son. He chose to surrender what was most precious to Him to make it clear to us how great His love for us was.

So when the world seems most dark, when we are most lost, when things seem as though they couldn’t get any worse, that is when “grace happens”. That is when God steps in and makes the way clear for us, gives us strength to go forward, and puts within our reach what seemed impossible.

 God is not watching our lives from afar. He is intimately involved with us at every second of every day. He is close to us. He is near to us whenever we call Him. We don’t have to do anything to get His attention. Rather, it is He who is trying to get our attention! We can count on Him, especially when we are most in need. Like a loving Father, He will always give us what we need. His grace will “happen” in our lives when we most need it and often when we least expect it

A Nighttime Visit To Jesus

 

 Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a man with much power and influence. He considered himself an authority on the Jewish Law and a teacher of the people. Like the other Pharisees, he would have felt some responsibility to guard the people from error. And so he would have been especially cautious of Jesus. Nonetheless, he felt drawn by his words. So he visits Jesus at night in secret to see for himself what he is all about. He is not ready to become a follower, but he is not ready to turn his back on him either.

 Jesus welcomes Nicodemus. He does not turn him away because he is skeptical and unsure. He does not tell him to come back when he has more faith. Rather Jesus builds on the faith he already has and challenges him to recognize the gift of salvation and eternal life which he is being offered.

 There are two parts to Jesus' message to Nicodemus.

First, he speaks to him about the great love of God. Jesus was sent into the world by the Father, not to condemn it, but to bring eternal life to all those who would believe in him. God's desire is not to find fault with us but to draw us into a relationship of love with him. For this reason, Jesus would be lifted up on the cross as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert to bring forgiveness and healing.

 Second, that gift of eternal life is available to anyone who believes in Jesus. Those who believe are the ones who are willing to step out of the darkness of sin and falsehood and into the light of faith. Remember that Nicodemus is visiting Jesus at night, when it's dark, so that no one will see him. Jesus is challenging him to step into the light and not be ashamed to be counted as one of his followers. It will mean leaving behind the prestige and power he has as a leading Pharisee. It will mean being rejected and ridiculed by many of his friends. But, more importantly, if he can find the courage to step into the light, it will mean being a friend with Jesus, seeing his great works, and knowing the Father's love in a way he could not otherwise imagine

 There is a little bit of Nicodemus in each of us. Most of us have an admiration for Jesus and are moved by his words. Yet there is still a part of us that wants to hold back. We are not ready to follow Jesus all the way. We fear what others will say about us if we live our faith wholeheartedly. Or we aren't ready to give up some sinful behaviors to embrace the full message of the gospel. Others of us can't get over the shame we feel about our past life and aren't ready to welcome the Father's promise and gift of forgiveness. Each of us, in some way, prefers to meet Jesus in the dark where our ugly faults and failures can be hidden from sight.

God Lifts Up The Lowly

It is a theme that runs throughout the whole Bible. When God is preparing to do a great work in the world, He chooses the weak rather than the strong. When He wants to reveal Himself, He chooses to speak through the uneducated rather than through the intelligent. He prefers to work through the humble rather than the proud.

We see this in the story of Abraham. When God wanted to raise up a great nation, He did not choose a young virile man or a robust, healthy woman. Rather He chose Abraham, an elderly man already well past His prime. And He chose Sarah, a woman who had never been able to have children and was well past childbearing age. Through these two, the most unlikely of parents, God raised up the people of Israel.

We also see this at work in the story of the anointing of David as king of Israel. God sent the prophet, Samuel, to the house of Jesse to choose one of his sons to be king. Samuel assumed that it would be one of the older sons. However, God had a different plan. He chose Jesse’s youngest son, David, to be king over Israel. Through this most unlikely of kings, God gave the people of Israel victory over their enemies and made them dwell securely in the land He had given them.

God’s greatest miracle, the birth of Jesus Christ, came also through the most unlikely of women. Mary was a young virgin when the angel Gabriel appeared to her to ask her to be the mother of the Messiah. God chose a virgin to make it clear that the child to be born would be “called the Son of the Most High.” There was to be no question who this child was - the Son of God made man. God used Mary, the most unlikely of women, to bring Jesus into the world to save us.

We also see throughout the Bible that God does not simply choose one mission for a person to complete. Rather, working for God is  a lifetime commitment. We see this clearly in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her mission was not through when she gave birth to Jesus. It did not end even when He became an adult. Rather, she accompanied Jesus throughout His ministry all the way up to the cross. After His resurrection, she was present when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles on Pentecost. Now, in heaven, she continues to serve as Mother of the Church, bringing our prayers and needs to Jesus.

Finally, God shares His glory with those who say “yes” to His call. God gave Abraham glory in being called the father of a great nation. God also gave David glory as the king of Israel. Mary is no different. However, the glory that God had planned for her was not to be evident in her lifetime. She continued to live as the humble handmaid of the Lord. Her glory, instead, was to be revealed in heaven, at the right hand of her Son, where she was taken, body and soul, to reign forever as Queen of Heaven and Earth.

On this great Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we celebrate the great gift Mary received to be taken body and soul into heaven. Just as she stood faithfully at the foot of the cross, suffering alongside her Son, so she now stands in Heaven participating in  the glory of His resurrection.

This great feast is not only an opportunity for us to commemorate our Blessed Mother in Heaven. It is also a reason for us to rejoice in hope because of God’s promise that, if we are baptized and believe in Jesus,  we will also be raised from the dead. God wants to share His glory with us who have said “yes” to the mission He has entrusted to us. No matter how humble it may seem, if we do it faithfully, we can look forward to being raised body and soul to the glory of heaven. Unlike Mary, we will have to wait for the end of time. Nonetheless, we can stand firm in the hope that an everlasting glory awaits us in heaven.

God chooses the weak, the powerless and the humble to carry out His work to make it clear that it is not by human effort that salvation comes to the world but by God’s power. We see this clearly in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We look to her now because she gives us hope that we, like her, will one day be in Heaven. And we entrust ourselves to her motherly intercession to preserve us as we struggle in this life with our eyes fixed on the glory that awaits us with Mary in the presence of her Son, Jesus Christ.

Still Alive

This past year, the world lost the great evangelizer of the past 100 years, Rev. Billy Graham. In the sixty years he spent in active ministry, he visited 185 countries speaking to over 215 million people. Besides his numerous tours, he reached hearts and minds with the good news of Jesus Christ through his many books and radio programs. It is no exaggeration to claim that, in the history of the world, no single person has ever preached the gospel to as many people as Rev. Graham has.

Though he was a Baptist minister, he had great respect for Catholics. Whenever Catholics would accept Christ at his revivals, he would direct them to their local Catholic parish rather than try to steer them to a Protestant congregation. He also became good friends with Pope Saint John Paul II whom Rev. Graham called “the greatest Christian witness of the twentieth century”.

Back in 2010 when he was 92 years old, Rev. Graham gave a television interview in which he spoke frankly about how he views death. He said:

                        I have a tremendous amount of hope because I am a believer

                        in Jesus Christ who was raised from the dead. And I believe

                        He is alive right now. My wife is already in heaven, I look forward

                        to seeing her, definitely, in the near future, because I’m 92 now

                        and I know that my time is limited on this earth. But I have   

                        tremendous hope in the fact that I’ll be in the future life, and I’ll

                        be there based on what Jesus Christ did for me on the cross

                        and by the resurrection. This gives me a great deal of hope.

On this Easter Sunday, when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, it is fitting that we reflect on these words of Rev. Billy Graham.

If anything, the resurrection gives us hope. Death was not the end of Jesus’ story. Because of the resurrection, death will not be the end of our story. Jesus died on the cross and rose again so that we could spend eternity with God in Heaven where there will be no more sadness, no more tears and no more pain. There we will be reunited with our loved ones who have gone on before us. What has been hidden to us on earth will be revealed to us in Heaven. We will see Jesus face to face. All of God’s glory will shine forth from His throne. The longing of our heart for union with the Divine will finally be quenched as we gaze upon His power and beauty. Nothing we have experienced on earth can compare to the joy that awaits us in Heaven. And it is all made possible because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Every baptized Christian believer should live with this active faith. The hope it gives should be continually lifting up our hearts and filling our minds. Whenever we feel worthless and alone, we can call to mind that God loved us enough to send His only Son to die for us. When we are faced with our own mortality, we should be reminded that this life is but a short prelude to the eternal life of Heaven. Our tears and fears are only temporary. They will all be wiped away when we finally gaze upon the face of our Creator.

This active hope does not mean that we sit on our hands waiting to die. Not at all! Down through the centuries, it has been believers in the Resurrection of Jesus who have set up hospitals for the sick, established schools for the young and who fed the poor. It has been those with the active hope of eternal life who struggled to achieve justice for the oppressed and protection for the most vulnerable among us. We do all this not despite our belief in Heaven but because of it. We are a people who proclaim the truth that Jesus has conquered all sin and evil through His death and resurrection. We share in that victory already in this life. So we face injustice, poverty and even death with the conviction that it can never overcome us. We have the confidence, then, to look evil in the eye, no matter what form it takes, and strive to set things right. At the same time, we realize that justice and peace will not fully be established on earth until the end of time when God’s Kingdom will be fully revealed. Therefore, we do not grow discouraged and are not misled into thinking we can achieve a utopian paradise in this life. Rather, we strive to achieve the common good with our eyes fixed  on the justice that will never end which God has saved up for us in Heaven.

Shortly after his death, the following quote of Rev. Billy Graham was shared frequently on social media: “Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God.”

On this Easter Sunday, we are reminded that such is the conviction that all of us who been been baptized into Jesus’ death and resurrection should have. It is the good news that we must share with so many in our world who have lost hope. And it is this belief that stirs us to action so that our society can better reflect the love of God revealed to us in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ

Jesus - The Best Investment

Thanks to advances in medicine and technology, people are living to a much older age. Whereas life expectancy for those alive during the 1960’s was about seventy years, people living today can expect to live well into their eighties and even into their nineties.

While the prospect of enjoying a longer life is certainly a blessing, it also presents many challenges to us as individuals and as a society.

When faced with many years of retirement, most people wonder whether they have saved enough money to last them all that time. Though we would all like to spend our last dollar with our last breath, none of us can know how long our lives will be. How will we know whether we have put enough aside and when we can stop working?

And, how should we allocate the money we are able to save? What percentage of it should be in cash and how much should remain invested in bonds? What will happen to our savings if interest rates go down or if the stock market takes a dive? What effect will taxes and inflation have on our nest egg?

Also, what will happen to us if we get sick and need extensive hospital care? Who will take care of us when we are no longer able to take care of ourselves? And, who will pay for it all?

None of us has a crystal ball to see into the future. Not knowing what will happen makes planning that much more difficult.

Though we have been talking about planning for retirement, our readings today point us to an even more urgent reality awaiting us in the future - the coming of the Lord. None of us knows when Jesus will come again in glory. However, one thing is for sure, it will change whatever plans we have for the future. Jesus makes it clear to us that the future is in God’s hands. However, like the wise virgins in the parable, we have to be prepared to wait a long time and have to be vigilant so that we can enter into the heavenly banquet when He does arrive.

Interestingly, many of the same obstacles that keep us from planning well for retirement can also keep us from planning well to meet the Lord.

The first obstacle is denial. Some people just do not want to think about having to stand face to face before Jesus to be judged by Him. The thought of it is just too alarming to consider. Also, many people wrongly believe that Jesus will not judge us but will simply welcome us into heaven no matter what type of life we have lived.

Of course, such an illusion is contrary to what Jesus Himself taught. In fact, every Sunday we profess in the creed that “He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.” And that judgment will be no simple pat on the back. If we have failed to show love to our neighbor, then we can expect to hear the fearful words that Jesus speaks in the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats: “Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”

If we are under the illusion that Jesus will not judge us, we had better wake up. If we are going to stand before Him on that day, we have to prepare by repenting of our sins today. We have to go to confession regularly - at least once a month - to unburden ourselves of the guilt we have committed and to find the strength to resist temptation in the future. And we have to show love to our neighbors by practicing works of mercy. If we do all this with love and faith, then we will be prepared to meet Him when He comes.

Another obstacle to preparing ourselves to meet the Lord is complacency. We think we have plenty of time to change our lives and are in no hurry. Whereas the virgins in Jesus’ parable thought the bridegroom would be coming sooner than expected, we are not expecting Jesus to come anytime soon. Therefore, we think we can put off conforming our minds and hearts to His word.

If we are under the illusion that we have plenty of time, we had better wake up. Even if the end of the world is still a long ways off, we do not know how close we are to our own death. It is likely that we have far less time than we think. We have to be prepared today to meet the Lord because we do not know when we will draw our last breath.

Finally, another obstacle that keeps us from being prepared to meet the Lord is investing our time and energy in the wrong things. Just as people can jeopardize their retirement by putting their money in the wrong investments, so we can jeopardize our salvation by investing ourselves in the wrong pursuits. If we have spent our lives seeking pleasure, power over others, status and money, then we will not be prepared to meet Jesus. Who of us can impress the Lord of all creation with our fancy titles or accomplishments? What Jesus will be looking for from us instead  is an accounting of how we loved our neighbor. If we gave our time and talents to feeding the hungry, praying for sinners, advocating for the powerless and being patient with those who irritate us, we can be sure that our investment will pay off dividends good for eternal life.

All of us will one day stand before the Lord to give an account of the good and the evil that we have done. None of us has a crystal ball to tell us how much time we have left. Therefore, if we are going to be prepared to meet Him, we have to shake off the denial and complacency that fool us into thinking that we do not have to deal with it. If we live each day conscious of the account that we will have to give to Jesus, then we do not have to worry about facing Him after death. After all, He died so that we might have eternal life. At the same time, however, He is a just judge.

Let today be the day when we earnestly seek Him so that we will not be a stranger to Him when we meet Him face to face. 

Never Forgotten

Laura was the housekeeper in the rectory of a busy parish with two priests, a school and convent.

After Mass every morning, one of the sisters, Sr. Joseph Mary, would go to the rectory to talk to Laura. Since she had long since retired from teaching, she was in no rush to get back to the convent. However, Laura was anxious to get back to her work in the rectory. As Sister talked on and on, she would try to find some polite way to end the conversation so that she would not fall behind in her chores.

One Friday evening, Laura was in the grocery store and noticed Sr. Joseph Mary out of the corner of her eye. With her daughter waiting for her in the car, she did not want to bump into Sister and get caught in a conversation that could last well over a  half an hour. So she did her best to try to avoid her.

However, Sr. Joseph Mary did notice her. As soon as she did, she ran up the aisle to her saying, “Laura, Laura, I’m so glad I saw you! I am going home to my Lord! I am going to see Jesus!”

Puzzled by her words, Laura asked her what she meant. Sister explained that she had been diagnosed with cancer. It was a particularly aggressive kind and it had already spread to several of her organs. The doctor told her that she probably only had weeks to live.

That was the last time Laura saw Sr. Joseph Mary. Within two weeks, she passed away.

Most people when receiving a diagnosis of cancer and a prognosis of only a few weeks to live would panic. They would be angry and ask God why. They would bargain with God assuring Him that they would go to Church more if only He would heal them. They would be overcome with fear at the pain they would be suffering. But not this holy sister. She approached death with total confidence in our Lord. She was even eager to die knowing that she would shortly be resting in the hand of God.

Our Christian faith gives us a new perspective on death. It is not an end, it is a new beginning. Like the seed buried in the ground that becomes a flower or like a caterpillar wrapped in a cocoon that becomes a butterfly, death transforms us from mortal human beings to sons and daughters of God and heirs of the Kingdom of Heaven. Once we have passed through death into heaven, suffering can no longer touch us.

We have this confidence because Jesus died on the cross for us. He accepted death with obedience and love and, in so doing, won for us the hope of everlasting life. Through baptism, we join ourselves to Jesus’ death, we “die with Christ” and so are given the promise of eternal life with Him in heaven. Every day, we die to ourselves by carrying the cross that God has chosen for us. If every day, with the help of God’s grace, we seek to do His will, then we too will approach our own death with acceptance, serenity and even joy.

Sr. Joseph Mary, in accepting the news of her death with such joy, shows us how free she really was. She was free from the fear of pain. Though she knew her illness would cause her much suffering, she was willing to endure it by joining it to the suffering of Christ. Her life had been fully of many close relationships but she was willing to say goodbye to her friends and family to be joined with Jesus in the company of the saints. Her life was totally focused on serving God, so she died with no regrets about what she may have missed out on in life. There were no earthly attachments holding her down, so she could open her arms to welcome the death that would unite her with her Lord forever.

Most people who are faced with the imminence of their death are not as blessed as Sr Joseph Mary. They are still holding onto regrets, resentments and sinful habits. They do not have the freedom to welcome death because they never really lived fully. We should always keep in our prayers those who are dying, that they can do so with peace and courage. We should also pray for their families who are struggling to support them while they cope with their own loss.

We should also keep in our prayers those who have already died and were still burdened with regrets, resentments or selfish attitudes. Jesus made it clear that no one can enter the Kingdom of Heaven with such blemishes on their conscience. However, God grants one more act of mercy for them. He offers them the chance to be purified of those earthly attachments, to be cleansed, so that they can freely embrace all the joys of heaven. We call that act of mercy, Purgatory. It is the state of the soul between physical death and entering the glory of heaven. We assist such souls with our prayers that they can let go of everything that is weighing them down and preventing them from rising up to the place God has prepared for them in Heaven.

Every year on this day, we gather as believers to reflect on the mystery of death and to pray for those who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith. It is an act of mercy for us to offer up Masses, sacrifices and prayers for our loved ones who are preparing themselves to enter the glory of Heaven. In particular, we should make an effort to pray for those souls who are forgotten and have no one to pray for them. If we do so, then we can be assured that they will also pray for us. Through their prayers and through the example of holy people like Sr Joseph Mary, we too can come to embrace the reality of death not with anxiety and fear but with peace and joy knowing that we will be united to our Lord and Savior forever.

A Glorified Body

Mary always leads us to her son, Jesus Christ.

All these many centuries after her earthly life ended, it is no different. She is the one who leads us here, to this holy place, so that we can reflect on and celebrate the hope of heaven that is ours through faith.

On this holy day we commemorate the Blessed Virgin Mary who was assumed body and soul into heaven.

When we die, our souls will be separated from our bodies and our corpse will corrupt.

However, by the gift of God, Mary’s body was not left to rot in the earth but was lifted up together with her soul to the glory of heaven.

This was fitting and pleasing to Jesus. As His mother never sinned during her life, He desired that her body not suffer the effects of sin which are corruption and decay. Since the harmony of her body and soul was never disrupted by evil desires, so her body and soul would not be separated by death.

This gift that Mary received is a participation in Jesus’ own resurrection. Just as Mary suffered along Him during the hours of His crucifixion, so she would enjoy the resurrection of her own body.

This same hope is held out to us who have been baptized into Jesus’ death. Though none of us can claim to be sinless, we can be assured that, if we embrace with love the crosses that are part of our day-to-day lives, we too will one day participate in Jesus’ victory over sin and death.

We are made for more than this life and what it can give us. We are made for more than to spend several decades on earth and then die. Rather, our true home is heaven. We were created to spend eternity with God.

During this earthly life, we experience a struggle within ourselves. Our soul and our body are constantly at war with each other. On the one hand, we yearn to pray, to be disciplined and to serve others. But, on the other hand, we get tired, frustrated and bored. We want to wake up early to pray but our body wants to spend another ten minutes in bed. We want to read the Bible but so often turn on the television instead. We are in a constant battle to respond generously to God’s grace or to give in to temptation or laziness.

This does not mean that our bodies are bad. On the contrary, God created our bodies and made them good. Our body is more than just a container for our souls. Rather, our bodies are who we are. We are our body as much as we are our soul. However, because of sin, our bodies so easily yield to temptation. And, because of sin, our bodies will one day die.

However, during the struggles we experience during this earthly life, we hold on to a hope that cannot fade. It is the hope that one day our bodies will be raised up and reunited with our souls. Like Jesus and Mary, we will have a glorified body that no longer experiences pain and suffering. It will be a body that is in total harmony with our soul. In that glorified state, our whole being will praise the goodness and mercy of God throughout all eternity.

Mary already rejoices before the throne of God in a glorified body. By the resurrection of Jesus Christ and by her prayers, we hope to attain the same.

And so, in the time we have remaining in our earthly life, we struggle against temptation and sin. When we fall, we repent and go to confession. When we overcome evil through love, we give the glory to God. In all things, we rely on God’s grace and the prayers of Our Lady in heaven. And we look forward in hope, for one day the struggle will be over and our corrupt bodies will be raised to immortality.

That is the mystery we celebrate today. That is the mystery we live every day of our lives as we look forward to the glory that awaits us in heaven.

Mary Leads Us To Jesus

Mary always leads us to her son, Jesus Christ.

All these many centuries after her earthly life ended, it is no different. She is the one who leads us here, to this holy place, so that we can reflect on and celebrate the hope of heaven that is ours through faith.

On this holy day we commemorate the Blessed Virgin Mary who was assumed body and soul into heaven.

When we die, our souls will be separated from our bodies and our corpse will corrupt.

However, by the gift of God, Mary’s body was not left to rot in the earth but was lifted up together with her soul to the glory of heaven.

This was fitting and pleasing to Jesus. As His mother never sinned during her life, He desired that her body not suffer the effects of sin which are corruption and decay. Since the harmony of her body and soul was never disrupted by evil desires, so her body and soul would not be separated by death.

This gift that Mary received is a participation in Jesus’ own resurrection. Just as Mary suffered along Him during the hours of His crucifixion, so she would enjoy the resurrection of her own body.

This same hope is held out to us who have been baptized into Jesus’ death. Though none of us can claim to be sinless, we can be assured that, if we embrace with love the crosses that are part of our day-to-day lives, we too will one day participate in Jesus’ victory over sin and death.

We are made for more than this life and what it can give us. We are made for more than to spend several decades on earth and then die. Rather, our true home is heaven. We were created to spend eternity with God.

During this earthly life, we experience a struggle within ourselves. Our soul and our body are constantly at war with each other. On the one hand, we yearn to pray, to be disciplined and to serve others. But, on the other hand, we get tired, frustrated and bored. We want to wake up early to pray but our body wants to spend another ten minutes in bed. We want to read the Bible but so often turn on the television instead. We are in a constant battle to respond generously to God’s grace or to give in to temptation or laziness.

This does not mean that our bodies are bad. On the contrary, God created our bodies and made them good. Our body is more than just a container for our souls. Rather, our bodies are who we are. We are our body as much as we are our soul. However, because of sin, our bodies so easily yield to temptation. And, because of sin, our bodies will one day die.

However, during the struggles we experience during this earthly life, we hold on to a hope that cannot fade. It is the hope that one day our bodies will be raised up and reunited with our souls. Like Jesus and Mary, we will have a glorified body that no longer experiences pain and suffering. It will be a body that is in total harmony with our soul. In that glorified state, our whole being will praise the goodness and mercy of God throughout all eternity.

Mary already rejoices before the throne of God in a glorified body. By the resurrection of Jesus Christ and by her prayers, we hope to attain the same.

And so, in the time we have remaining in our earthly life, we struggle against temptation and sin. When we fall, we repent and go to confession. When we overcome evil through love, we give the glory to God. In all things, we rely on God’s grace and the prayers of Our Lady in heaven. And we look forward in hope, for one day the struggle will be over and our corrupt bodies will be raised to immortality.

That is the mystery we celebrate today. That is the mystery we live every day of our lives as we look forward to the glory that awaits us in heaven.

Life In Abundance

After many years of not attending Mass and even claiming not to believe in God, a man had a powerful experience of Jesus’ presence in his life. Moved by an overwhelming sense that he was known and loved by God, he fell to his knees, gave his heart to Jesus and asked to be transformed by His love.

The experience did in fact change him radically. Because of everything that had happened to him, he could not keep the story to himself but shared it with anyone who would listen. He always ended by asking the person to do what he did - fall to his knees and give his heart to Jesus.

One of his neighbors who was an atheist was troubled by the change he had seen in his old friend. He could not understand what had gotten over him. So, one afternoon, he called out to him from over his fence and asked him to talk to him. He said to his neighbor, “For the past few weeks all you have been talking about is Jesus and how much he has done for you. I bet you don’t even know the first thing about Jesus.”

He was surprised by what his neighbor said and asked him, “What do you mean?”

“Well,” he answered, “can you tell me on what day He was born, what color His eyes were or how tall He was?”

The man thought about it for a minute and said, “Well, no I can’t.”

The neighbor then laughed and replied, “See, you don’t know anything about Jesus so you should stop talking about Him.”

Looking down on the ground for a while, the man straightened himself up and said to his neighbor, “You may be right. There may be much about Jesus that I do not know. But I do know this. When I used to come home from work, my children would hide from me out of fear. Now they run to my car to welcome me. In almost twenty years of marriage, my wife never smiled. Now she fills our house with joy and laughter. Before, I was miserable and now I am happy. Before knowing Jesus, I was as good as dead. But now I am full of life.”

Many of us know people who, as this man described himself, are as “good as dead.” Their bodies might still be alive but their spirits are dead. They are miserable, always complaining and unable to see the good in anything. They are not enjoying life but are simply going through the motions. Rather than living, they are merely existing. We all know people like this. And, if we are honest with ourselves, we may have to admit that we have been like that ourselves.

But everything changes when we come to know Jesus. The knowledge of Jesus that gives us new life is not the kind that the neighbor in the story thought was important. It is not the details of his life such as when He was born, how tall He was or what color His eyes were. Those facts might be interesting but they are not really important. The knowledge that gives us life is, rather, the knowledge that Jesus loves us just as we are. It is the knowledge that He holds out His hand in friendship to us. It is the knowledge that, if we entrust our lives into His hands, He has the power to transform us as He did the man in our story.

In today’s gospel, Jesus tells us that He is the Good Shepherd who has come “so that [we] might have life and have it more abundantly.

How does Jesus give us a new and more abundant life? Our readings give us a clue.

First of all, as the responsorial psalm teaches us, that “He guides [us] in right paths for his name’s sake.” When we give our lives to Jesus, we allow Him to lead us. We give up control and let Him set the course which we are to travel. When we find the courage to do so we experience great relief and freedom. No longer do we wonder which path we are to follow or if the way we are on is the right one for us. We are not bound by the anxiety of wondering where the road will ultimately lead us. Rather we set our feet on the way which Jesus has already marked out for us by His word. In following His commandments, we know that we are on a path that is secure and that will lead us to eternal happiness. This gives meaning, purpose and direction to our lives and keeps us from merely going through the motions or choosing the path of least resistance.

Secondly, Jesus gives us new life by feeding us. Again, the responsorial psalm tells us that God leads us to “verdant pastures”, refreshing our souls “beside restful waters” and that He “spread[s] the table before [us].” What can all this imagery be pointing us to if not the Eucharist? Whenever we receive communion, we are being nourished by the very Body and Blood of Jesus. His love comes flooding into our hearts, reviving our drooping spirit, strengthening our resolve to do good and convincing us that we are cared for and nurtured by our Heavenly Father. Jesus promised that everyone who eats His flesh and drinks His blood will have eternal life. That promise is not only meant for the after-life but it is a reality that we can already experience today by the joy which floods our hearts, by the love we experience for our neighbor and by the peace of knowing that our lives are in the hands of a merciful and loving God.

We all experience times when we have had enough, when we are at the end of our rope, when we felt as though we could go no further. We have all had moments when love, joy and peace seemed far from us. It is at those times that we can turn to Jesus. If we commit ourselves to living in accordance with His commandments and if we take advantage of the nourishment He provides us in the sacraments, then we will experience for ourselves the abundant life He came to bring us. Not only that, but we will not be able to keep it to ourselves. Rather we will want to share it with others.

It is all ours for the asking. We merely need to approach Jesus, our Good Shepherd, and allow Him to lead us to the restful waters and verdant pastures He has prepared for us.

Lazarus Raised

While he walked the earth, Jesus worked many incredible miracles. He multiplied loaves and fish to feed over five thousand people. He cured the blind, the crippled and lepers. He walked on water and stilled the raging storm with his command. He drove demons out of the possessed.

All these wonders were meant to teach the people who witnessed them one thing - that He was more than a brilliant teacher or an inspired prophet. He was the Messiah, The Son of God, sent to the world to die for our sins and to offer us the hope of everlasting life. He was God Himself come down to Earth with power over sickness, over nature and over life itself.

Many who saw Jesus’ miracles with their own eyes came to believe in Him because of them. However, many others refused to believe despite the many signs He performed. Though they could not deny Jesus’ power, they could also not accept that God would become man. No matter what Jesus said or did, they could not believe.

Today we witness the seventh and last sign offered by Jesus in the gospel of Saint John - the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary were dear friends of our Lord. It was their great honor to have Him as a guest in their home many times. Jesus would often visit them to rest from His travels or to get away from the crowds which were always pressing Him.

Jesus loved them very much, so when word reached Him that Lazarus was sick, we would expect Jesus to rush there right away to heal Him. But instead He waits until Lazarus has died and is buried to begin the journey to Bethany. Certainly Jesus could have cured him and prevented his death. But He had an even greater miracle that He wanted to perform. He wanted to show His followers that He had power not only over sickness but over death itself. By allowing Lazarus to experience death, He was able to do something even more wondrous for him. And through that sign many came to believe in Him. Through the miracle, He confirmed His words to Martha which have continued to ring out through the centuries: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”

When He walked on the earth, Jesus showed that He had power over life and death. How much more real is that power now that He has conquered death on the cross and risen to Heaven! Whatever circumstances we find ourselves in, we must always remember that nothing happens to us that is not allowed by God. And if He allows it to happen, He will give us the strength to get through it and will make immeasurable good come from it. When we face challenges and tragedies it is natural for us to say to God as Martha did, “Lord, if you had been here this never would have happened.” But God is always with us, and He is in control of all the events of our lives. If we trust Him and believe, we will see His glory, He will work wonders in our lives and many will come to believe because of it.

Many times, when we find ourselves faced with a difficult situation, we ask God for a sign that He is with us. Sometimes, in His mercy, He will grant our request. But more often it does not work that way. Usually we must first show God a sign that we are willing to trust Him before He begins to work wonders for us. As He said to so many people He cured, “It is your faith that has healed you.” The signs of God’s presence are all around us. Faith gives us the ability to see Him at work in every detail of our life. It helps us to discern the blessings laced through all the moments of struggle. Faith is the difference between those who see the miracles and believe and those who see but look the other way refusing to believe.

Jesus words to Martha are also directed to us: “If you believe, you will see the glory of God.” The miracles of Jesus are not a thing of the past. He continues to work marvelous signs in the lives of those who believe. His glory continues to manifest itself to those who trust Him no matter how difficult life becomes.

If we are having trouble seeing God at work in our lives, then all we need to do is ask for the gift of faith, and He will grant it to us.

We can be transformed here and now by the greatest of his miracles, the most glorious sign of His presence among us - the bread and wine which will be changed into the Body and Blood of Jesus. It is given to us who believe. He promised that all who eat this bread will never die. We grab hold of that promise with confidence and hand ourselves over to Him, the Lord who has power over life and death.

Breath Of Life

We are familiar with the story of how God created the first man, Adam. After forming him from clay, he blew into his nostrils the gift of life. This is different from the way God created any of the animals or any of the plants. By giving Adam His own breath, God was sharing His life with him. Breath is life. We are aware that someone is alive if he or she is breathing. To stop breathing - or to be unable to breathe - is to die.

The word "spirit" is closely related to the word for breath. We call breathing "respiration". To stop breathing or to breathe out is to "expire". Both of those words are related to the word for "spirit". In this way we can understand the Holy Spirit to be the breath of God, the life of God. We have that life not only because we have been created by God, but also through the gift of faith. Through baptism and confirmation, in particular, God breathes the Holy Spirit into us. God shares with us His very life.

Paul speaks of this in the second reading. The Spirit who worked so powerfully in the life of Jesus, is the same Spirit we have received through faith and baptism. This is the same Spirit who empowered Jesus to speak with authority. This is the same Spirit who empowered Jesus to perform miracles. This is the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. That Spirit is with us here as we gather to worship.

What does this mean for us? If God's Spirit is the very life of God within us, then the eternal life of heaven is not something we receive after we die. That eternal life of God is already in us. We are already living it. Heaven is already within us and around us. To be sure, it is still in seed form. It hasn't yet reached its fullness. We are not always aware of it. But, it is at work in us just as surely as our breath is filling our lungs with oxygen.

We see that eternal life at work in the words of Martha and Mary. They are distressed at their brother's death and distressed at Jesus' apparent neglect of them in their need. Nonetheless, in the midst of their grief, they confess their belief with the words: "I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God". And, Jesus does not let them down. When Jesus says that they will see their brother again, Martha misunderstands and thinks He is talking about the resurrection on the last day. But, Jesus has something else in mind. He has in mind the life of the Spirit which is already at work in Him and is beginning its work in the world. Jesus' life was not something that Martha and Mary would experience in some far off day in the future. They were to experience it that very day with the raising of their brother Lazarus from death. Because they believed, they saw the glory of God.

Jesus came to earth for one reason - to redeem us from our sins and to restore us to life with God. Sin cuts us off from God's life. Sin strangles God's breath of life within us. Sin inevitably leads to death. When Jesus weeps in today's gospel reading, he is not just mourning for Lazarus. He is not just sympathizing with Martha and Mary. He is weeping for all of humanity which suffers death because of sin. But, Jesus will conquer death by Himself suffering it and by rising from the dead to give us the hope of everlasting life with Him now through faith, and in fullness with Him forever in heaven.

All life needs food to sustain it, and the life of God in us is no different. Not only does God provide us with the breath of His Spirit, He also nourishes us with the body and blood of His Son. The same Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead will transform simple bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ to give us the power to live as He lived.  

Now that we have tasted the life of God - now that we have breathed it into our lungs - why would we ever go back to living just for ourselves? Why would we ever want to let sin cut us off from that life again? No matter what choices we have made in the past - even if it seems that our souls are buried deep in a tomb - God can roll away the stone and breathe new life into us. Today is a new day. If we believe, we can see God's glory at work in us and at work in our lives. We need only believe to breathe deeply of God's eternal life which He offers through the Holy Spirit.

A Home At Last

One evening, while a woman was preparing supper, her 19 year old daughter complained of a headache and went to her room to lie down. When her mother went to the bedroom to tell her daughter that supper was ready, the girl was having a seizure. The mother immediately called 911, and the ambulance came to rush the daughter to the hospital. The young woman was pronounced dead upon her arrival at the emergency room.

The mother was devastated. For years, she kept her daughter's room exactly the way it was when she died. She left all her clothes hanging in the closet and the posters hanging on the wall. She even refused to change the sheets on the bed. Many nights, her husband would come home from work to find the mother with her face down on the bed crying. That bedroom was all she had left of her beloved daughter.

Through her grieving process, today's gospel reading came to be a great source of comfort for this woman. Just as she kept a room for her daughter in her home, Jesus had a place prepared for her daughter in heaven. To know that Jesus was now taking care of her daughter - that Jesus had made a home for her - gave her a sense of peace and calm that helped her come to terms with the tragedy of her daughter's death.

Today's gospel reading is part of the narrative of the Last Supper in the gospel of John. The apostles are jittery. They know something is up. They are getting the sense that Jesus is in danger and that they are in danger. They really have no idea how violently Jesus will be treated later that night and into the next day. Jesus senses their anxiety and seeks to calm their fears. He assures them that, though they will be separated for a while, he will prepare a place for them in His Father's house. They will have their faith tested. They will suffer. Most of them will eventually be killed for being followers of Jesus. But, Jesus Himself will come to bring them to His Father's house. Jesus will always have a place for them.

Many of us know what it is like to have an empty room in our homes or an empty place in our hearts for a loved one who is no longer in our lives. It may be a parent, a spouse or a child we have lost to death. It may be an ex-husband or ex-wife who has abandoned us. It may be an adult child who, for whatever reason, wants nothing to do with us. It may be a brother or sister or friend we haven't spoken to in years. We keep a light burning in our hearts or a room ready in our homes, in hopes that they will return.

Imagine, now, that Jesus has the same place prepared for each one of us. Imagine that Jesus has a light burning in hopes that we will return to Him. Jesus is counting on our spending eternity with Him in His Father's house. Can we even begin to imagine how great God's love is for us that He waits for us with the same passion of a mother who grieves for her daughter, or a lover who prays that his beloved will come back to him?

Jesus has a place prepared for each of us in heaven. But, Jesus has also prepared a place for us in this church, in this parish. This is the place where we encounter God. This is the place where we hear God speak. This is the place where Jesus surrenders His Body and Blood for our nourishment. This is the place - as Saint Peter explains in the second reading -where we are built up like living stones into an edifice of spirit offering spiritual sacrifices. It is here that we face Jesus - the Way, the Truth and the Life.

All of us are gathered here for different reasons. Some of us are here because we really believe that being here makes a difference in our lives, whether we can explain it or not. Some of us are here out of a sense of duty. Some of us are here because we just got the feeling that we should go to church today. Some of us don't know why we are here. But, whether we feel it or not, whether we can explain it or not, each one of us belongs here. Each one of us is meant to be here. Jesus means us to be here. Jesus has prepared this place for us. Jesus has prepared these readings for us. Jesus has prepared this message for us. Jesus has arranged all this so that we would meet Him here today. None of us is here by accident or by coincidence. Jesus has prepared this worship event so that He could bump into us and so that He could find some way of getting Himself into our lives.

Now, we have a decision to make. Do we have room in our hearts for Jesus? Do we have a place prepared in our lives to welcome Him? Do we have a light burning in our hearts waiting for the day that Jesus will visit us? Will today be the day that we stop resisting Jesus' call? Will today be the day that we accept into our hearts Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life?

The Life Giving Breath of God

We are familiar with the story of how God created the first man, Adam. After forming him from clay, he blew into his nostrils the gift of life. This is different from the way God created any of the animals or any of the plants. By giving Adam His own breath, God was sharing His life with him. Breath is life. We are aware that someone is alive if he or she is breathing. To stop breathing - or to be unable to breathe - is to die.

The word "spirit" is closely related to the word for breath. We call breathing "respiration". To stop breathing or to breathe out is to "expire". Both of those words are related to the word for "spirit". In this way we can understand the Holy Spirit to be the breath of God, the life of God. We have that life not only because we have been created by God, but also through the gift of faith. Through baptism and confirmation, in particular, God breathes the Holy Spirit into us. God shares with us His very life.

Paul speaks of this in the second reading. The Spirit who worked so powerfully in the life of Jesus, is the same Spirit we have received through faith and baptism. This is the same Spirit who empowered Jesus to speak with authority. This is the same Spirit who empowered Jesus to perform miracles. This is the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. That Spirit is with us here as we gather to worship.

What does this mean for us? If God's Spirit is the very life of God within us, then the eternal life of heaven is not something we receive after we die. That eternal life of God is already in us. We are already living it. Heaven is already within us and around us. To be sure, it is still in seed form. It hasn't yet reached its fullness. We are not always aware of it. But, it is at work in us just as surely as our breath is filling our lungs with oxygen.

We see that eternal life at work in the words of Martha and Mary. They are distressed at their brother's death and distressed at Jesus' apparent neglect of them in their need. Nonetheless, in the midst of their grief, they confess their belief with the words: "I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God". And, Jesus does not let them down. When Jesus says that they will see their brother again, Martha misunderstands and thinks He is talking about the resurrection on the last day. But, Jesus has something else in mind. He has in mind the life of the Spirit which is already at work in Him and is beginning its work in the world. Jesus' life was not something that Martha and Mary would experience in some far off day in the future. They were to experience it that very day with the raising of their brother Lazarus from death. Because they believed, they saw the glory of God.

Jesus came to earth for one reason - to redeem us from our sins and to restore us to life with God. Sin cuts us off from God's life. Sin strangles God's breath of life within us. Sin inevitably leads to death. When Jesus weeps in today's gospel reading, he is not just mourning for Lazarus. He is not just sympathizing with Martha and Mary. He is weeping for all of humanity which suffers death because of sin. But, Jesus will conquer death by Himself suffering it and by rising from the dead to give us the hope of everlasting life with Him now through faith, and in fullness with Him forever in heaven.

All life needs food to sustain it, and the life of God in us is no different. Not only does God provide us with the breath of His Spirit, He also nourishes us with the body and blood of His Son. The same Spirit which raised Jesus from the dead will transform simple bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ to give us the power to live as He lived.  

Now that we have tasted the life of God - now that we have breathed it into our lungs - why would we ever go back to living just for ourselves? Why would we ever want to let sin cut us off from that life again? No matter what choices we have made in the past - even if it seems that our souls are buried deep in a tomb - God can roll away the stone and breathe new life into us. Today is a new day. If we believe, we can see God's glory at work in us and at work in our lives. We need only believe to breathe deeply of God's eternal life which He offers through the Holy Spirit.

God of the Living

 

It is the call that all of us dread getting.

Around 2:00 in the morning, Ron’s phone rang. It was his mother saying, “Come quick. Your brother has been in an accident.”

Throwing some clothes on, he got in his car and rushed to the hospital. The rest of the family was already there crying and hugging each other. Ron’s father walked up to him, put his arm on his shoulder and said, “Your brother didn’t make it.” While walking home after closing up the pizza place he worked at, he was struck by a driver who fell asleep at the wheel and was killed instantly.

Ron was devastated. His brother, Mike, was only eighteen years old. He had just started college and was the happiest Ron had ever seen him. All he could do was shake his fists in rage and through his tears cry out, “It’s not fair! It’s not fair!”

In what seemed like a fog, Ron managed to get through the next few days sitting through the wake and planning the funeral with his parents. However, when they stood around his brother’s grave to say their final farewell, Ron burst into tears all over again. “Why, God?! Why?I” is all he could say.

In his grief and anger, he was tempted to stop believing in God. How could a good God allow this to happen? None of it made any sense. At the same time, he realized that if there was no God then there was no heaven. And if there was no heaven, he would never see his brother again. He did not want to believe that. Like so many who have lost a loved one under tragic circumstances,  he continued to believe in God grudgingly, but could not bring himself to go to Mass or to pray.

As time went by, Ron developed skills for coping with his grief. He would find himself talking to his brother when he was driving alone in the car of when he was lying awake in bed at night. Many times after work he would drive by the cemetery to visit his grave. Whenever something good would happen - if he had an especially good day at work or if a project he was working on went smoothly - he would credit it to Mike whom he began to call his angel.

The Thanksgiving after Mike’s death was especially difficult for the family. Since he was always the life of the party, they knew that Mike would want them to enjoy themselves. As they reminisced about the practical jokes he would play on them and the trouble he would get into, they all laughed and found comfort in his memory.

Suddenly, Ron was struck with an insight. Somehow, Mike was still alive. Of course, Ron knew he could not see him or talk to him as he once did. But that did not mean that he was dead. He was just living what he called “a higher existence”.  Another insight struck him. This so-called “higher existence” was only possible because of God and His love. Drawing on what he remembered from his catechism classes, Ron also understood that eternal life is made available to us through the death of Jesus. In one moment of grace, it began to make sense to him. Though Mike’s death was senseless and tragic, God did not take him from Ron and his family forever. They still have a relationship with him and will one day be reunited with him in heaven where nothing will be able to separate them again.

Jesus assures us in today’s gospel that God “...is not a God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.” God created each one of us to live forever. Our earthly life is merely the beginning of an eternal life which we hope to spend in heaven. He created us for something greater than this world can offer. We can only understand ourselves fully when we keep this in mind. Furthermore, it puts into perspective all the injustice, suffering and tragedies that we experience in this life. It is merely the growing pains of the new heavens and new earth that God is preparing for us.

That eternal life is a gift which God offers to each of us. We are free to accept it or to reject it. We are free to believe or to disbelieve. In the face of life’s challenges and difficulties, we can decide that there must be some purpose to it all beyond our ability to understand and continue to press ahead. Or we can decide that it is not worth it and give up.

If we decide to believe, to accept our existence as God created it, we will be given the strength to face whatever challenges may come. As our second reading instructs us, “...the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.” If we decide not to believe and to give up, God will continue to seek us out, to comfort us and to encourage us to not give up hope. This was Ron’s experience and the experience of so many others who, in the face of tragic circumstances, come to find meaning and new purpose through God’s grace.

Our Heavenly Father has destined us for eternal life. Just as the seed is different from the tree that it produces, so that heavenly life will be far different from the life we now live on earth. It is beyond anything we could ever hope for or imagine. We do know one thing however. We hope to be reunited with the ones we love, we hope to gaze on God’s grandeur and we believe that it never end. Because of this hope, we keep His commandments and draw nourishment from the sacraments of His love. May Saint Paul’s blessing in today’s second reading inspire us to go forward with courage and faith: “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the endurance of Christ.”

 

(image by Marisol Sousa)