-Last Sunday's homily is available by email
-This Sunday's Scriptures can be found at www.usccb.org
-check out this weeks LinC letter at www.parishlincletter.blogspot.com
-I will be celebrating mass at 8:00 and 12:30 on Sunday
Resuscitation is Revelation
God hates death. All those who live in God are the enemies of death. Who is responsible for your dying? Why doesn't Jesus and His Church resuscitate all dead and dying people? What role does dying have in your eternal happiness?
Restoring dead people is a miraculous revelation of God's prophet. Listen to him.
6 comments:
Wow, I can't wait for this homily, death is an interesting topic, I am quite comfortable with it because it juxtaposes life so uniquely in our faith and daily living.
Having been at death's door twice, with the decision before me to have treatment or die has been life changing. I always thought I had a choice because the Church says you don't have to pursue extraordinary means to prolong life. It was cut&dry, simple, in my mind. And if I was choosing for my most holy trinity of me, myself & I, I wouldn't be typing this right now. If the doctors would have told me more of the details of what was ahead of me and the eventual return of cancer and even worse times and eventual surgery, I would have declined from the get go. And that would have been a self-centered and very poor choice.
Sitting before the surgeon, Round 2 of facing choice of life or death, he traced his finger on my face and neck of how he was going to cut and what he was going to do, I was adamantly opposed to ALL of it. He left the room to have his nurse come & schedule it I was shaking my head, back & forth, adamantly, saying, nope I don't have to do ANY of this. My husband let me go on & on shaking my head, saying no, no, nope, nope, nope. Over and over and over. I remember looking out the windows at all the tall buildings convinced of my decision. Nope, nope, nope. Then there was the tiny and soft voice of my husband saying, 'Don't I get a vote?'
In an instant ... AN INSTANT!!! (What an incredible grace, what a loving God! “Young man, I tell you, arise!”) ... I knew Truth and I knew there is no choice BUT life... and that God would join me, be with me, in leading me more deeply into life ... Whether alive and here or alive and here in eternal life. Truly, truly the Lord took pity on my ignorance!
I'm learning there is no death except the death of our sins and false notions and misconceptions of God AND ourselves and others. I am learning that this death is painful and liberating simultaneously leading to more and more joy. Wow! I am learning that 'It's all good" (back to Genesis) because God is good and God wants me to see with God's eyes and ears & heart. I am learning the Truth that the Lord & I are in and that eternal life has begun in this reality of union ... Here, now, today. Wow, wow, SUPER WOW!
Death, where is your sting? Death, where is your victory? I know with my entire being that 'Live or die, we win'. I hope to realize it more fully at the end of this day. And tomorrow. And the next day. The more I look to the Lord in LIVING, LOVING, DYING in the here and now, the more I grow in the Lord to love & live & die FROM HERE TO ETERNITY.
This is very real to me with the passage into the Joy and Presence of God by my Mother yesterday. The beauty of last moments shared, holding hands, praying to our Father and Our Mother Mary.... all help us to understand how this world is so temporary and our life should be focused on the eternal. The moments that the world considers tragic are moments of captured beauty and understanding of God's plan. Each moment is precious and not to be wasted.Beauty is achieved when we allow God to work through us and to teach us His Truth. Sorrow for this last 40 days does not compare to God's sorrow and Christ's suffering. This allows me not to "fear" death but to understand and embrace it as the beginning of life in the eternity of joy & perfection.
Great insights and help from two friends so peaceful.
In reading the two very beautiful personal reflections above, I'm reminded of a line in my spiritual reading about the actions of Jesus Christ on earth, "Jesus is looking for the true fire [in people], namely, worship in spirit and truth.... He is sparing with his miracles; he does not squander them on unbelievers but uses them in the context of faith."
Faith is what I see being called for in the Matador's homily prep - and then provided by Joy and Tom. Deep and stirring faith.
A comparison of writings:
I used to be a fan of Jack Kerouac. His writings " On the Road" , " The Beat Goes On" and other writings of his saying in this mundane life we are given a new American Saint is born. This Saint the beat-down person through the scat is justifiably given the right to do criminalized spontaneous behavior. And then what is said is " the beat goes on" and though our hollow wallowing in filth life it is passed on to the next generation; that's what used to be "In". Being cool thinking that life really had no purpose; when we die we die.
The other writing that was inspired by the Holy Spirit - the Bible says otherwise.
Life has meaning, and we die over and over again by the scriptures "the word of God" changing us from our old self to becoming anew . We hopefully will not want to be resuscitated back to our old self. But this dying over and over brings us closer to God and our Salvation. Look at wha God has in store for us in this life. This life is just the Introduction as they say to the real story and what God has planned for us. We must listen closely to what he is trying to say and put in our path " on this road " this journey. Have no fear of death because what is really life , life in Christ and with God is heavenly!
I'm not sure what was meant by your question: "who is responsible for your dying"? We choose life or death. Can you elaborate a bit. thanks.
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