by Vincent | Nov 8, 2013 | General Interest, Reflections, Religion
Occasionally, Fr Ronan Drury (Editor of “The Furrow”) asks me to contribute homily material for the publication. Most recently he asked me to submit some homilies for the month of November. This is the homily for 32nd Sunday of The Year
I’ve always had a feeling of pity for the youngest brother!! I’m sure emigration must have crossed his mind!
It seems to me that today’s passage has less to do with the story of the seven brothers and more to do with our understanding of resurrection. A clear divide existed then, as it does today, between those who believe in life beyond the grave and those who don’t. Even for those who believe, there can be a varying understanding of what form it will take. Will it be life as we know it now or a totally different existence?
This is something I’ve wondered about, not least since my parents died. Like all my family, and indeed the families of all who have died where there is a belief in resurrection, Heaven and a “new day”, I hope to one day see my parents again. That said, I have wondered what it will be like. My mother, in particular, had a number of difficult years before her death, with her mobility and alertness of mind profoundly affected. If I am to see her again, is that the woman I see? I’d prefer to think of her in the full flush of youth, energy, love and fullness of life that her earlier years must have afforded her. Truth told, I didn’t really know her then. She was always my mother – older and wiser than me – and I’m not sure what version of her the afterlife might present. The one freshest in my mind is the mother I knew nearing her end, the mother I attended on the day she died but that’s not the image I want to hold on to. Likewise my father, and many who have died, changed over the years and age had its way with their looks, health and energy. What version of them does the “resurrection of the body” present? It’s a real question. At the end of the day, like much of the journey we walk in this life, the answer is beyond us. We rely, and continually so, on faith.
Jesus, in replying to the cynically charged question of the Saduccess, seeks to answer us too. He is saying that there is resurrection. We need have no doubt about that. He quotes the “burning bush” story and the recognition, in that moment, of famous giants of our past, still present and involved in all that was happening.
Could it be that we arrive at a sense of peace in the belief that there will be recognition for us? Maybe, like Mary Magdalene on that Sunday morning, resurrection will be revealed not in a face we instantly recognise but in the intonation of a name. That intonation, that intimacy of relationship will, I believe, answer our questions, unwrap the hidden mysteries of our faith and bring us “home” to the eternal truth that those we love, those we miss, continue to know us and whisper our names – to call out to us, “not to cling to them” but to have certainty that they are “caught up” in God and that we will be together again.
At day’s end, there are questions asked today whose answers are found and will only be truly answered in eternity.
It is perfectly acceptable to ask questions and to ponder these important issues. The hope for us is that we’re starting our questioning from a place where the line of the Creed is found:
“I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and life of the world to come. Amen”
by Vincent | Nov 8, 2013 | General Interest, Reflections, Religion
Occasionally, Fr Ronan Drury (Editor of “The Furrow”) asks me to contribute homily material for the publication. Most recently he asked me to submit some homilies for the month of November. This is the homily for 31st Sunday of The Year
Yesterday we celebrated All Souls’ Day and, throughout this month, we will remember in a special, on-going and prayerful way all those gone before us “marked with the sign of faith”. In most of our churches and parishes, Altars reserve a special place for the names of our loved ones written on “November Lists” and there will be a variety of remembrance services held throughout the church to recall the lives of those who have died. It is, without doubt, a month as necessary as it is solemn, as hopeful as it is sad and as powerful as it is vulnerable. We do well to remember, to pray, to hear again those precious names and to find direction for our grief and onward journey.
Today we meet Zacchaeus, the low-sized tax collector who wanted desperately to catch a glimpse of Jesus. Feeling neither popular nor tall but anxious to see what kind of man Jesus was he climbed a sycamore tree, hid in its bark and branches and felt he was out of view. How wrong he was ….. What seemed hidden and closed was rendered wide open. The hidden one takes centre stage and is called, by Jesus, from the place of hiding into a deep, lasting and practical friendship – “I must stay at your house today ……”
That “Sycamore” tree speaks to me of casket and coffin. The branches of hiding are the closed and tightened lid. To all it may well seem the one is gone beyond viewing, beyond contact, beyond reach but not so for Jesus. Just as Zacchaeus is seen and called so also, the deceased. There is no hiding place from the Lord. He knows those who are anxious to see him. He knows those from your family, from our parish – from our present and past who have died – and invites them to join him in an eternal friendship.
It’s great the way Zacchaeus hurries from the tree. He knows he’s safe, knows he’s wanted and needed and that life will never be quite the same again. The sycamore was a temporary stop on an on-going journey of faith and discovery. Likewise – the coffin or casket.
Everybody didn’t rejoice with Zacchaeus of course. There were some who resented him, thought him incapable of change and not meriting this special attention. The “little man” knew all too well his faults and went about making amends. There’s no doubt that must have pleased the Lord greatly. “If I’ve cheated anyone ……” It wasn’t too late to make a change to wander a new way. God’s mercy is everlasting to all who call on him, who seek to know him and who journey with him. “Life is changed not ended.”
There’s something going on here, in this month of November, about letting the deceased rest in peace and letting them be “in God”. Something in the old saying about it not being right to speak “ill of the dead” and something too, in our own time, to acknowledge the need for change should it be required.
At the end of the day, the one who climbed the tree to get a bird’s eye view met the Lord face to face. He had nonetheless to have that desire in him – that “pilgrimage” that took him to the heights so that he could come down again, be transformed and raised to a new life.
In this month, we continue to pray for all gone before us in the belief they’ve been noticed in the Sycamore, called down and are now “at table” with The Lord.
by Vincent | Nov 8, 2013 | General Interest, Reflections, Religion
Occasionally, Fr Ronan Drury (Editor of “The Furrow”) asks me to contribute homily material for the publication. Most recently he asked me to submit some homilies for the month of November. I was in Knock yesterday at a Day of Recollection for priests from the Tuam Province (Tuam, Achonry, Clonfert, Elphin, Galway and Galway) and it was nice that two of the homilies were mentioned to me by priests there – I thought I might include them here as well for anyone that might have an interest.
This is the homily for All Saints’ Day
I remember a priest of our diocese who used always name, in its entirety, the list of saints given in Eucharistic Prayer 1. He had a slow and solemn delivery and when he’d say “and all the saints”, you’d be inclined to ask “are there any you didn’t mention?” That list seems to be getting longer – soon to be added Pope John Paul 11 and Pope John XX111 – but maybe that’s no bad thing. Maybe we need to be reminded that saintliness is still in vogue and that good people are found in every generation and in every place.
A few years ago I was doing some work on the weekend parish bulletin – okay, a bit of last minute work – and it was the weekend of All Saints so I decided to consult Google for an image I might use. I simply typed in “ALL SAINTS” and every image presented to me was of four girls who make up the band of the same name! Even going down through the pages, I didn’t come across one religious image representing All Saints.
Could this be an all too sad sign of the times? Maybe X-FACTOR is the new creator of saints. Perhaps the “Judges” panel is the new assessor of miracles – not settling for three but rather the millions of albums and downloads that must be sold before a band is deemed to be worth its salt and deserving of a spot in the limelight.
Our “All Saints” though speak of countless people who lived good and faith-filled lives and are now numbered among the “Holy Ones” in God’s presence. We need to dig deep into all that is good and honest in us to recognise their story and imitate their life choices. They are, in absolute truth, our “role models”.
A slightly deeper “Google” dig, including the word “Day” with All Saints, brought forth a different set of images. Google did the trick though. What’s needed is there to be found and sometimes finding it involves just trying a bit harder and giving it a bit more time – adding another word!
The addition of the word “day” took me to images that spoke to and of the Feast Day we celebrate. Maybe it’s not an accident. Maybe “day” has to be synonymous with saintliness for it’s in the “daylight” we live at our most honest. St Paul told us to “cast off the works of darkness” (Rom 13:12). It’s certain that those remembered today lived life “in the day”.
Miracles are associated with saints. People who may never have known or met them benefit from their lives through miracle or cure and that link of benefit helps lead the sainted ones to the Church’s moment of recognition and canonisation. It is a lovely way of acknowledging the connectedness of the ages in our on-going story of faith and pilgrimage. We look to and learn from those gone before and they too are blessed in the remembrance.
Back to my friend of Eucharistic Prayer 1, who, in the opinion of many, is now numbered among the sainted ones, thank you for the listing the names and reminding us of our “Holy Past” and calling us to a faith-filled present.
