Yesterday was a day full of spiritual drama. On the one hand, good news came telling of the
return to stronger health for Father Pat.
On the other, the story of Sister Claire Odette leaving her Earthly abode for the other side. Father Pat is several years older than Sister
Claire. He is the one who is on the road
back to health from a long distance down into the pit.
Furthermore, on the same day I received an email
from a family that has a long list of human deficiencies that cause them to
exercise a high degree of holy patience along the road of life. They need our prayers. The mother and father are no longer young (70
+), the daughter is 40 + and has been in
poor health all her life. The mother is
in the "spare parts" season of her life. Things like artificial knees, artificial eye
lenses to correct cataracts and who knows what else.
These are the physical challenges that we
face. We don't always put the emotional
and psychological sufferings that we endure in the life threatening
category. We know that it is possible to
live for a long time with neurological and mental abnormalities. We also know that it is possible to live a
long time with "mechanical" problems like arthritis, rheumatism,
Muscular Dystrophy and other such "discomforts."
Every year at about this time I find myself
reflecting on the mystery of life. I
have done this for a long time. I was
still quite young when I came face to face with the death of a beloved person. I have written many pages of meditative
thoughts about the relationship that we have with the mystery of life and
death. It most often encroaches on my
life during the month of November when the Catholic Church celebrates the
mystery of life in stark terms. It
starts off with All Saints Day, moves to All Souls Day and moves through the
month celebrating those who have gone before us. We honor them and we pray that they rest in
peace. We also can't forget that we
someday are going to be among them. We
know that life doesn't end at terrestrial death. It just changes form. The Bible reminds us that it participates in
the mystery of the grain of wheat that cannot fructify as long as it does not
first die in the ground. "Unless a
grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies,
it bears much fruit." [John 12;24]
We live with that. We are
reminded of it yearly. We know that the
mystery of life includes the mystery of death.
We respect our earthly life because we believe
that an earthly life well lived prepares us for a glorified life in the
presence of Almighty God. We respect
life because we believe that it is a gift that only partially belongs to us. It belongs to God too and He expects it to
fructify so that it can become a part of His Eternal Community. The more deeply we respect life, the happier
we are. The more intensely we live life,
the more we come to resemble the Creator who gifts us with it. The more righteously we live life, the more
deeply we come to appreciate the divine mystery that our life mirrors while we
are here on earth.
This is the Catechism of the month of
November. This is the Catechism of
Discipleship. This is the confrontation
that Jesus Himself presented us when He said,
"24 ... 'If anyone wants to be a follower of
mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.
25 Anyone who wants to save his life will lose
it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it.
26 What, then, will anyone gain by winning the whole
world and forfeiting his life? Or what can anyone offer in exchange for his
life?
27 'For the Son of man is going to come in the
glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will reward each one according
to his behavior.'" [Matthew 16, 24 - 27]
November is the 12th month of the Calendar that
the Catholic Church follows in its prayer life.
December is the first month.
Every year before we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, we celebrate
the mystery of our personal 12th month.
We celebrate the end of life as we know it as we stand before the light
of the New Dawn. We stand in awe at the
promise of the new life about which we know only through the eyes and the mind
and the heart of Faith. This is what we
do every single year. Every year we
Catholics have the privilege of practicing dying and peeking into the mystery
of the transition from this life to the one that Jesus promised to those who
would not prize the life that they have more than they would come to prize Him.
Get ready. On the very last Sunday
of the Catholic Year, we will hear the story of Christ the King. On the very first Sunday of the Catholic Year
we will hear the story of the end of the world.
Everything that you have read before getting here explains why
Catholics do this. It is the Catechism
of life and death. Earthly life ends and is transformed so that pure spiritual life can begin. It is the Catechism
of the reality of Discipleship. We are
all invited. Every single year the
invitation is made. Over and Over again,
we get invited. Why do so many choose
not to RSVP?
If we really believe this, why do we cry at funerals?
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