Extraordinary Courage

Jesus Christ is Risen! Alleluia! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!

      Death is such a difficult reality for us. Even when we are ready for it, our loved one and others near us often are not ready. Not being ready for death makes the grief that comes with death all the more difficult. When death occurs unexpectedly or because of violence, these are the most difficult deaths to endure.

      This weekend we had a special Mass of Remembrance for babies who died. Those families and loved ones who gathered to pray and celebrate the Eucharist together represented many different experiences of loss. Some lost babies due to miscarriage, some to stillbirths, others to a malformation that occurred during the baby’s development and still others to disease or illness early in their vulnerable lives. There was little or nothing that could be done to preserve the child’s life. Many times the death was completely unexpected. Because of parents’ hope and love, and their high expectations for the child, the grief seems even more profound and painful. The death seems “unfair.” Therefore, on Saturday, May 18th we prayed and grieved together, and we prayed to enter into the memory of Jesus Christ’s own suffering and death, so that we might emerge with him in the Resurrection to new hope and healing.

      In other parts of the world, other people were grieving, too. Not because of the death of a baby, but because of the violent deaths of those who were shot, or bombed, or stabbed. In New Zealand, California, Sri Lanka, North Carolina and Colorado they grieve. People were killed by the most violent means of causing death. Guns, bombs, knives, and human hands were used to kill. This kind of death is a shock, too. The absurdity of such violence, the strangeness and mystery of why someone would act in such an extreme way confuses us. We hear that a kind of hatred or a misguided attempt to resolve a conflict was the reason for the killing. Of course, no kind of hatred ought to lead to killing and there is no resolution to conflict, nor problems solved, when another’s life is taken away. The conflict simply shifts to new people and new contexts.

      To follow Christ requires extraordinary courage in today’s world. Being Christian means that we are on the way to moving through grief to hope. Being Christian means we want to forgive and reconcile and not seek vengeance. If the world says hate your enemies and exterminate them, Christians say the opposite.

Jesus Christ is Risen! Alleluia! He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!

Peace, Fr. Andy