The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no
torment shall touch them. They seemed,
in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an
affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace. Wisdom 3:1-3
Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has
been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to
us. Romans 5:5
“Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,
and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven
not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. John 6:37-38
Piety
Help me to let go of what
I don’t need to hold onto. Help me to
pick up the wisdom of what to do in the here and now. Help me to act on that wisdom.
Study
On a day when we remember
in a special way the souls of the faithfully departed, the readings provide to
us the consolation of a faith-based hope.
St. Paul reminds us that “hope does not disappoint.” That does not mean there will not be valleys
to cross. However, when we cross them,
the Lord is there waiting for us.
He is ready to reward
those who surrendered their will to His will.
Because we are not only in the hand of God when we die, but also when we
are born and when we live. Death brings
the ultimate peace as we are freed from sin, from pain and from
temptation. Yet, every day, when we
place our trust in God, we gain some little measure of the peace that is part
of the Kingdom to come.
For Christ, while we were still helpless, died at the
appointed time for the ungodly. Indeed,
only with difficulty does one die for a just person, though perhaps for a good
person one might even find courage to die.
But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners
Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8
Action
This week, I was
recruiting a speaker for a charity event and called up the website of a
favorite charity to see if its founder was available. He has spoken eloquently in the past and I thought
this event would be a great fit for him.
I was
shaken/surprised/shocked by the second sentence right at the top of his
homepage: “Things are a little different for since my diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease,
but that's going to become grist for this mill, too.” He has even started a blog called “Watching the Lights Go Out.” As a retired physician, David certainly has a
better sense of what is happening to his mind and body than an average adult
like my Mother who died last year from complications related to Alzheimer’s.
Included in his list of
writings is a sermon he delivered on “A
Theology Out of My Life With Alzheimer’s Disease.”
He writes that the past
year has been one of his happiest. “Relationships
with friends and family have become more intimate; relationships with others
have bloomed. I've received enormous
support from my family, this community, and other friends, some of whom I
haven't seen in thirty years. It's been exciting and joy-filled.” He added, “Jesus said that she who saves her
life will lose it; he who loses his life will gain it. One of the things that this has come to mean
for me is that hanging on to a particular sense of self causes suffering.”
It makes me wonder what
kind of “self” we are hanging onto? Are
we still seeing the image of a 20-year-old person? Or in our 30s? As we change in less dramatic ways than
David, how can we live in the hope of what is to be here and now, rather than
the image of the past or the dream of the future?
God is ready to reward
those who surrender their will to his. David’s
journey can be another inspiration of hope and humility, surrendering and
suffering, to help himself and us get through the valleys on the way up the sides
of the mountains beyond.
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