Project Description
32A Wisdom 6:12-16 / 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 / Matthew 25:1-13
This weekend—
in this month of November—
the month when we Catholics
traditionally remember and
pray for the dead—
we come together as a parish
to remember those in our parish family
who have died this past year.
And in these very unusual times,
I also want us to call to mind and pray for
the many, many lives that have been lost
due to the Corona Virus pandemic. . . .
237,000 in the US. . .
and over 1.24 million worldwide.
That’s a lot of human lives.
Today we come and worship and pray in unity
for our beloved dead—
and for those mourning.
Fr. Henri Nouwen had a wonderful
reflection on dying and
on mourning the dead
that I’d like to share
The title itself is worth reflecting on. . . .
“Smiles Breaking Through Tears”
“Smiles Breaking Through Tears”
Fr. Nouwen writes:
Dying is a gradual diminishing . . .
and final vanishing over the horizon of life.
[Dying is a gradual diminishing . . .
and final vanishing over the horizon of life.]
When we watch a sailboat leaving port and
moving toward the horizon. . . .
it becomes smaller and smaller
until we can no longer see it.
[That’s death.]
But we must trust. . . .
[We must trust]—
that someone is standing on a faraway shore
seeing that same sailboat become
larger and larger
until it reaches its new harbor.
Death is a painful loss.
When we return to our homes after a burial,
our hearts are in grief.
But when we think about the One
standing at the other shore
eagerly waiting to welcome our
beloved friend into a new home,
a smile can break through our tears.
[But when we think about the One
standing at the other shore
eagerly waiting to welcome our
beloved friend into a new home,
a smile can break through our tears.]
Isn’t that a great image. . .
Death is like a sailboat sailing
toward the horizon until
we see it no longer. . . .
it’s gone. . .
But someone is standing on a far away shore
waiting for that sailboat as it docks
on some far distant land. . .
On this special day, I want to talk just a little bit about
the reading we just heard from
St. Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians!
St. Paul had already made his first missionary trip
to Cyprus and then modern-day Turkey. .
Now he was on trip number two. . .
a European tour in Greece—
having Silas and Timothy as companions.
Can you imagine walking all of those miles?
All in all,
St. Paul walked more than 10,000 miles.
That’s the equivalent of walking from
New York to Los Angeles nearly four times!
Talk about commitment!!!
Well on this second journey
St. Paul walks into Thessalonica,
a town in Northern Greece.
And when he got there,
Paul did his usual thing. . . .
he went looking for the local synagogue.
Thessalonica was a city with
about 200,000 inhabitants—
two-thirds the size of Lexington. . .
so it was big enough to have it’s own synagogue.
So Paul goes to the synagogue
and preaches there for three straight Sabbaths. . .
preaching that Jesus rose from the dead. . . .
preaching that Jesus was the true King.
And Paul had some success in Thessalonica. . .
a small group of converts formed a
Christian community there.
But three Sabbaths of St. Paul was enough
for most of the locals. . .
he had to go.
So a mob formed—
claiming that Paul was turning
their world upside down. . .
and indeed he was.
Paul was preaching heresy to the Jews—
that Jesus rose from the dead. . .
that Jesus the Messiah. . .
And preaching insurrection to the Gentiles—
preaching that it wasn’t “Lord, Caesar”—
instead—
it was “Lord, Jesus”. . .
Jesus was the new king.
So this mob was ready to charge
the house where Paul was staying. . .
They were going to beat him. . .
or stone him. . . .
or imprison him. . .
or run him out of town. . .
or a combination of all the above.
Those type of things happened a lot to St. Paul.
But St. Paul barely escaped
in the dark of the night.
A little later,
Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica
to see how this small Christian community
was doing.
And, all in all—
the church there was doing well. . .
but they did have some questions.
And one of those questions was about
what happened to their loved ones who had died.
All this Christian stuff was so new to them—
it was new to everyone.
They thought Jesus was going
to come back in their lifetime. . .
And when He did,
they knew that they—
they living—
would rise with Jesus. . . .
but what about those Christians who
had died in the meantime. . .
before Jesus came back?
Would they share in Christ’s victory over death?
Or would they miss out?
So Paul’s writes them
to encourage them
and answer their questions. . .
and he teaches them about Jesus’ victory over death. . .
and he comforts them about
the fate of their dead relatives and friends.
St. Paul tells them that the resurrection of
Jesus from the dead was not just an isolated event. . .
it was only the beginning.
Because Jesus rose from the dead. . .
When He returns. . .
Jesus’ believers will be raised with him. . .
Dead or alive. . .
with the dead being raised first.
You know, I just love St. Paul. . .
He’s such an incredible witness
when he tells us about Jesus.
Why?
Well one, St. Paul had a real experience
of the Risen Jesus—
so what he teaches isn’t guesswork.
Two, Jesus completely changed Paul’s life—
he went from persecutor of Christians
to Jesus’s most passionate supporter.
And three,
he had the wounds to back it all up—
he had real street “cred”—
from the blisters on his feet—
to scars from the beatings
and the stonings—
from his ordeals in prison—
to being shipwrecked. . .
and nearly drowning. . .
and ultimately, ultimately from his beheading.
We can only thank God for
such a credible witness. . . .
who God—
in His great Providence—
allowed to experience the Risen Jesus—
So he could reassure the Thessalonians. . .
and reassure us. . .
that despite the fact that sin and death
still rule the world,
Jesus somehow conquered them. . . (Beuchner)
that through Jesus—
all of us—
and all of our friends and loved ones
who have died—
stand a chance of somehow
conquering them too. (Beuchner)
And that when our boat sails off—
sails beyond the horizon
and docks at that far distant land. . .
there will be a loving Savior there to greet us!!!
And then—
then—
smiles. . .
smiles will break through our tears!!!
Holy Spirit 11/07-08/20
