"You know you are getting old when the candles cost more than the cake."
- Bob Hope
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Here is an exerpt from a reflection I gave at all the Masses this past weekend at a parish in Southern Maryland:
There are two things that I can say with great confidence about Hurricane Katrina. First, the hurricane was not part of God’s active, perfect Plan. Second, God has allowed this to happen in order to bring about tremendous good. On the first point, the Book of Wisdom, Chapter One, “God did not make death, nor does He rejoice in the destruction of the living”. On the second point, whenever we ask, ‘why does God allow evil to exist? Why does He allow suffering’, we need to look at the Cross. Why did He allow that? He loves his only Son infinitely, He has perfect love for Jesus. And yet, He allowed Him to suffer tremendously.
Like Christ, the people in the South, particularly New Orleans, have been humbled something fierce, have been stripped of almost everything, and have suffered tremendously. They are carrying a HUGE Cross. Like most crosses, they didn’t choose this. They are sharing in Christ’s Passion and suffering. But, while Christ had his Good Friday, He also had his Easter Sunday. He rose from the dead! Conquered death! Life after death! So, too, those in the South who are in their Passion will have a Resurrection.
Mother Teresa once said, “Don’t ever get so sad that you lose sight of the Resurrection”. While we are men and women of the Cross – Jesus says, ‘unless you carry your cross, you cannot be my disciple’ – we are men and women of the Resurrection. We believe and have great confidence that our brothers and sisters in the South will experience a Resurrection. They will experience a newness of life that they’ve never known. They will find joy in things that before they didn’t or in things that they’ve taken for granted – a bed to sleep on, a hot meal, a roof over their heads. We believe that they will experience a Resurrection soon.
We come to this Mass, every Mass, celebrating Christ’s Death and Resurrection. Especially in the Eucharist, we remember Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross in a special way, and that makes Him present on the altar under the signs of bread and wine. We receive Jesus’ risen flesh and blood in Holy Communion, and go forth from this place as living tabernacles of hope to those we meet. We have the risen Lord dwelling within us at that point. Hope Himself dwelling within us. We take a message of hope, this Gospel of Hope, Joy, Peace and Love to our neighbors, friends and family this week, and pray with great confidence for the victims of Katrina.
“Don’t ever get so sad that you lose sight of the Resurrection”.
5 comments:
Greg--
Are you coming back to GW at all?
Please, keep Nalini Yadla in your prayers. She was a student at GW who died this morning after a long, courageous fight against cancer.
I will definitely try to remember this: "Don't ever get so sad that you lose sight of the Resurrection."
Thank you.
First, I will keep Nalini in my prayers, and ask everyone on this site to do so as well. I am sorry to hear of her illness and death, and will pray that she rests eternally in the Kingdom. Thank you for the request.
Next, thanks for the question about my returning to GW. I should have addressed thos before now, and will mention it in my next post. But, I will not be returning to GW. I will be serving in a parish in Maryland this school year. I didn't find out until this summer, and while I had hoped to return to GW for another year, I am eager to serve where my bishop sends me. Thank you!
Finally, the MT quote is one worth remembering, indeed! Thanks!
Greg,
We will miss you. But we wish you a great year in this new parish. If possible, we hope this blogsite will remain active.
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