Always Remember Death

Memento Mori.  Always remember death.  Let this reality echo in your soul to remind you of your mortality.  You do not know the day or the hour.*  You do not know when your time will come.  

When you get to the end of your life, what do you most want your life to have represented and produced?  What will have been the meaning of your life?  How can you live your life now so that you end up where you want to be?  What can you keep telling yourself now so you come to the end you desire?  How will you make sure you are constantly reminding yourself?  

We see the seeds of such a practice, of such incessant remembering, planted millenia ago, as those journeying through the desert were told, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with your whole heart, and with your whole being, and with your whole strength.  Take to heart these words which I command you today.**  Bind them on your arm as a sign and let them be as a pendant on your forehead.***  

Once they emerged from the desert into Israel, they took this injunction literally, making phylacteries, that is, little black boxes containing these and other words from the Torah.  They began the practice of literally clothing themselves in these words since they so value these words.  One type of phylactery is worn on the arm, hand and fingers.  Another kind of phylactery is affixed to the forehead.  

To make sure your life ends the way you want it to be, what words will you constantly keep in mind?  How will you remind yourself of these words?  How will you bind to yourself these guiding words?  

With my own eyes, I saw such a guide earlier this week.  As I was working in the bookstore, a man stood before me who I know to be pious, who lives his faith through his work, and in his prayer.  As he waited for his transaction to complete, I looked down and saw on his finger a ring with a skull on it.  I asked him, "Memento mori?"  He replied, "Yes."  

* Matthew 25:13; Mark 13:33 

** Deuteronomy 6:5-6 

*** Deuteronomy 6:8 

Stay Awake Because You Do Not Know The Day Or The Hour

Today I feel as if the Gospel echoes the urgency my soul has felt for years.  For years I feel I have been reminded of the truth I have heard today.  

Today at Mass we heard that 

Jesus said to his disciples: 
“Be watchful! Be alert!  
You do not know when the time will come.  
It is like a man traveling abroad.  
He leaves home and places his servants in charge, 
each with his own work, 
and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.  
Watch, therefore; 
you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming, 
whether in the evening, or at midnight, 
or at cockcrow, or in the morning.  
May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.  
What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’”*    

After Mass today, Father Isaiah pointed out to me that this Gospel passage could be calling us to be vigilant so we recognize Jesus when He comes to us in our daily lives.  On any given day, we may cross paths with a homeless person; we do well to remain alert so we see Jesus in that poor person in front of us.**  

Of course in these Gospel verses Jesus is telling us that we do not know the day or the hour when He will come again, in His Second Coming.  We do not want to be unprepared when He returns, but instead we want to be ready for his arrival.  

Most often when I hear these Scripture verses, I am reminded I do not know when I will be called from this life to the next.  I have taken this directive from Jesus as an urgent call to attend to the duty of the present moment, to be constantly striving to love God and my neighbor, since at any given moment, this life might be about to end.  

Over and over in my life I have been reminded of the truth that I do not know when my time will come.  For many years now, my friends and friends of friends have passed away having had little or no warning.  They were not expecting death, yet at times it came unannounced, probably coming earlier than they had been anticipating.  

A college classmate of mine, Chris, once he was in his mid-twenties, died from complications related to cancer.  A few years later, Liz, a dear mentor and co-worker, in her late thirties had a headache at work one day; that night she expired from a cerebral hemorrhage.  Less than a half dozen years later, another co-worker in his late forties got up one morning and very soon thereafter suddenly collapsed from a fatal heart attack.  Around the same time, a friend of a friend, in his early fifties died during the course of an operation.  About a half dozen years later, another friend of a friend, Eric, in his forties lost a battle with brain cancer.  Around the same time, Karen, a former co-worker in her late fifties or early sixties passed away after only a day or two of any evident health challenge.  

Over and over I have been reminded that I do not know when my time will come.  Today in my heart, mind and soul is echoing the reminder of today's Gospel that has been presented to me repeatedly during my life.  And so, what has been reinforced in my soul I say to you: Be watchful, be alert, since you do not know when the time will come.  

* Mark 13:33-37 

** Matthew 25:40,45 

Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit

Blessed are the poor in spirit.*  If we are poor this way, God lives in us.  God is all we need, and we have all we need.  Satisfied, we rest content and glory in our littleness, since through it God is glorified.  

Today at Mass we heard the testimony of Job.  As we well know, Job had lost everything.  As we are less aware, Job was dwelling in that place of confidence in God, even in the midst of disaster.  

Job seemed to have nothing.  Having lost all that could be seen, Job faced the most fundamental choice.  Embracing his nothingness, his inability to help himself, Job expressed his assurance as he adored God.  

Sure of who God is, Job proclaimed, "I know my Redeemer lives."**  Even in the midst of what seems to be total loss, Job declared his unshaken faith in God.  

Today at Mass, Father Cyprian said that Job lived in spiritual poverty, just as did Saint Therese of Lisieux, whose feast day we celebrate today.  Both realized in darkness, we are blessed if we are poor in spirit.  

For months at the end of her life, Saint Therese of Lisieux related the darkness that mocked her, telling her after death it would be still darker.  Yet Therese, in her littleness, went on in faith in God.  

God calls us to embrace our littleness.  Therese went further, writing, "What pleases Him is that He sees me loving littleness and poverty."***  As we find ourselves poor, we can love how we must rely on Him.  

If we love how God made us, poor and little, we embrace the will of God.  If we welcome what others might see as only tragic events, we can ever more become the children trusting in God He made us to be.  

In the midst of the coronavirus, beset by fire, we can accept what our present circumstances have to teach us.  Like little children, we can trust that Our Father is loving us, since He is love.****  

* Matthew 5:3 

** Job 19:25 

*** "The Story Of A Soul," Saint Therese of Lisieux.   

**** 1 John 4:8,16 

Do Not Remain A Single Grain

We are getting challenged in these current days of the coronavirus.  We are being called to die to our conceptions of what we think our lives are supposed to look like.  

Why are we so constrained right now?  We are presented with opportunities at every moment in our lives.  We are to pray always*, including right now.  

One night nearly two thousand years ago, an innocent man knew His life on this earth was about to come to an end.  He cried out to Our Father in Heaven, "If it is possible, let this cup pass from me."**  Moments later, he prayed, "Father, if it is not possible that this cup pass without my drinking it, your will be done!”***  

We do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with us as we are in the midst of our current trials.****  Let us not forget that He suffered too.  And keep in mind He is with us in our angst.*****  We too should voice our agony to God.  And then we should turn ourselves over to Him.  

Having turned Himself over to the Father, Jesus was put to death on The Cross.  He knew His sacrifice was not hollow.  Whenever someone sacrifices with love, the effort is not wasted.  He died so that we could have life.  Through Him, we have life, and have it abundantly.******  

Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains a single grain, but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.*******  Through His death and resurrection, much life was brought into the world.  

After voicing our current anguish, we can turn ourselves over to God.  In these days now, we too can let new life emerge through us.  

* 1 Thessalonians 5:17 
** Matthew 26:39 
*** Matthew 26:42 
**** Hebrews 4:15 
***** Matthew 28:20 
****** John 10:10 
******* John 12:24