Lent Day Twenty-One - The Necessity Of Death

Gospel	Matthew 5:17-19 ©

I have not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets but to complete them

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Do not imagine that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them. I tell you solemnly, till heaven and earth disappear, not one dot, not one little stroke, shall disappear from the Law until its purpose is achieved. Therefore, the man who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered the least in the kingdom of heaven; but the man who keeps them and teaches them will be considered great in the kingdom of heaven.’

Once again, my journaling fell by the wayside yesterday but the way was long and hot.  The camels were moody and we made little progress towards our goal of Jerusalem.  The Master was not too perturbed about our lack of progress, as a matter of fact, he seemed to welcome it.  

Disaster struck us today and I am still upset by it.  Jack was an older member of our team and he was a retired policeman.  He had always wanted to go up to Jerusalem and over the objections of wife and kids, he joined us knowing full well what he was getting into.  He was a slim man, very bright, he had been promoted to a detective during his stint as a cop, and for a man of his age and what he had been through, he looked like he was pretty fit.  He never complained and I learned that he had beaten cancer three times!  He did his share of the work and was assigned one of the smaller camels to tend whose name was Sandy.  Uriah stormed into our tent well before the sun had even thought of rising and kindly and gently asked us to get up.  Actually, he spoke to the camels with more love, but we were used to it and took it all with good humor.  Everyone was up and doing the needful except John.  He was still abed and Uriah, an evil gleam in his eye approached the supine figure bent down and was going to yell in his ear when he noticed something and told Matthew to get the satellite phone and call for an air ambulance.  John was alive but it appeared that some cataclysm had claimed him during the night and he needed help.  We all stopped while Uriah made the patient comfortable.  Matthew came by about twenty minutes later and reported that the Life Flight helicopter was about thirty minutes out and he had activated the distress beacon that Uriah carried to guide the pilot.  John was a pasty white and there was a tinge of blue about his lips.  He was not responsive and Uriah said while there was a pulse, it was hard to find and it was kind of weak.   Water was brought and Uriah tenderly mopped the brow of the stricken pilgrim with water to keep him cool.  The Master came by and was concerned about John.  He knelt next to the man, place His hand on John's forehead and John's body seemed to relax.  He was no longer quivering.  He was still unresponsive but his pulse was stronger.  A tear appeared on the Master's face and he walked slowly away from John.  The helicopter eventually arrived and the paramedics took John away,  Later that day we were informed by radio that John had passed away.  It shook us a bit because this could have been any one of us. 

The Master addressed us after dinner. 

"Brothers, one of our number has left us because the Father has called him home. Be of good cheer in spite of our loss for our loss is John's gain.  We will no longer be able to see him or talk with him and in the years that follow we may even forget what he looked like or forget his sense of duty or humor.  This is as it is for the human being looks after self before others.  John, when he departed, did so in peace.  I believe that dozens upon dozens of the people that John helped came to escort him to heaven.  With so many friends pleading his case how can the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit keep him out of heaven?   But it is more than that.  You will find in your last hour that you are called upon to trust God and to let go.  Your love for God will make this easy.  On the other hand, if you despise God, hate the thought of being with Him forever, then you will go into eternity kicking and screaming, but you will go at a time and place of the Father's choosing.  As for John, you can be assured that this day because of his selfless life, his giving attitude, his humor, his thoughtfulness and the fact that he never held a grudge, that he beholds the Father, not through a glass but face to face!"

This was a lot to digest and most of us went to our beds early and spent time in prayer and remembering John and praying to build up all of the qualities that will make the transition from earth to heaven easy.  My last thought was, "Imagine, inhaling on earth with your eyes closed and exhaling in heaven in the sight of Jesus and the Saints."

May the souls of the faithfully departed, through the Mercy of God, Rest in Peace.  Amen. 

This post is dedicated to the Memory of Jack Needham

Tick, Tick, Tick

Jesus said to his disciples:                                                                   
"Be sure of this:
if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming,
he would not have let his house be broken into.
You also must be prepared,
for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come."

The clock had stood on the mantle forever.  There was not a time that anyone going back five generations that a member of the family needing to know what time it was failed to see the ornate clock on the mantle.  Throughout all of those years, it was dusted, carefully wound, and it responded to this care by always providing the correct time.  One day, however, a bit of moisture that had started corroding one small part over a hundred years ago finally triumphed and the clock stopped.  Thinking that someone had forgotten to wind the clock, the young master of the house pulled a chair over to the mantle, mounted it, found the key and promptly overwound the clock effectively stilling the heart of the ancient clock, stilled forever, or at least until the clockmaker was able to fix it.  No one knew the exact time anymore.  They had to guess by where the sun was in the sky, where the shadows hit the terrace or of course they could look at their wrist watches or mobile phones.   Come on now, I didn't say it was the only clock!  

Just as the people in our mythical house had to judge the time using other means, so too must we.  We do not know the time or date when Jesus will return.  Maybe it will be before you finish reading this sentence or maybe it will be a thousand years after the next two millenniums fade into the period we call the past.  For the vast majority of us now living, it is possible that we will face the end of the world on our own, perhaps with family around us as we take our last breath in here on earth and make that trip to the judgment of Jesus.  We do not know when this will happen.  If we are young we feel it will be in the far distant future, sixty, or even seventy years from now.  If we are older, such as your author, we know that the time grows ever closer with every blink of our eyes.  The point is no matter if you are young, middle-aged,  or in those years we call the golden years, you must always be prepared for the call home because it will come without warning and at a time that will not be chosen by us.

I've often wondered how I would like to die.  Would I prefer everything to end at the snap of a finger, leaving this world and arriving in the next without knowing what hit me?  Or, would I like to have my end staged, gradually taking my leave as one disease or another does its mischief on my body?  I would rather have the later because it would give me time to say goodbye to those I love and to straighten any crooked lines I may have written on my soul.  But whatever God has planned for me, I accept at this moment and as I continue to live, I try to live my life in a manner worthy of my calling as an ambassador for Christ.  I place my soul into the care of the God that has loved me and who has guided me in spite of my stubborn will.  I look at the clock, its hands creep always forward, what time will the bell strike for me?  Only God knows! 

Our brothers and sisters in Purgatory need our prayers.  Won't you dedicate some of your prayer time to them today? 

Some Strong Coffee !

There is nothing like a hot cup of coffee to get you started in the morning.  The aroma gets the blood flowing even before you get the first scalding sip past your lips.  When your body feels that first sip it recognizes its old friend caffeine and brain cells all of a sudden snap on and you are finally awake and ready to take on the day.  Well the reading at Mass today from Philippians 3: 8-14 can do for our soul what coffee does for our brain. This reading becomes a shot of espresso for our soul once we read the first few sentences and use the proper Greek translation for one word. It does not change the meaning of the text but I think that it enhances it and strengthens it.  The beginning of the reading reads as follows:  "More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus  my Lord. For his sale I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him,,," 

The word we need to change is rubbish. The Greek word that is used here actually translates as "sewage."  The word sewage is much stronger than rubbish and I think it shows Paul considered Christ more important than anything.  Lest you think I am some sort of Greek scholar, I am not.  I gleaned this coffee bean from the homily at Mass yesterday. 

This is just food for thought. What place do we give to our relationship with Jesus in our life?  Is it the most important thing? Is it maybe in the top ten?  Or do we just think about it on Sunday morning as we sit in Church waiting for it to be over so we can tear into a jelly doughnut? 

This reading and the young deacon (man he looked young) that shared this nugget of wisdom with me has forced me to think on how much importance I place on my relationship with the Lord.  I know he is in the top ten, but if I was going to be honest I could not say that at this moment he is number one in my life.  This of course is something I will have to work on. 

I am going to challenge you today to think about the place of Christ in your life. Are the burdens of day to day life taking precedence or are we inviting Jesus into the little fiddly bits our life?  Are we letting his wisdom show us the way or are we picking and choosing? 

In this season of lent we have the luxury of time to reflect. I for one am going to examine my spiritual life and how it mates with my physical life. Where do I and Jesus connect?  Where do Jesus and I disconnect?  It's going to be a long process I am sure but in the end it will be worth while.  

God bless you today.  Catholics - here is a suggestion to get you started.  Have you been to confession lately?  Try it, taking out the garbage and receiving the forgiveness of Christ is certainly a good starting place.