theROCK

A Matter of Life After Death

It’s been a difficult year health-wise for many of my family members and friends. Regular updates about diagnoses and surgeries, tests and treatment plans has my mind thinking about Life and Death more than usual. A lyric comes to mind from my favorite band Rush: “learning that we’re only immortal . . . for a limited time.”

We live our days one day at a time and don’t like to think about death because the afterlife is a giant question mark of unknowns. As Catholics, we believe quite profoundly in Life AFTER Death. Our souls are destined to exist for eternity.

At a recent staff meeting we discussed an article about the “Nones.” Nones being those who have no affiliation with a formal religion.  Atheism is on the rise, with more Americans rejecting the notion of God entirely, much less that Heaven and Hell are real. Another well-known quote comes to mind: "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist." ~ Charles Baudelaire

Every one of us likely knows someone (or is that someone) who has experienced first-hand some inexplicable/miraculous event that transcends the corporeal and can best be described as Divine Intervention.   It is a matter of faith to recognize the handprint of God in those moments.  It is a matter of fact that sometimes things happen that defy that which our human minds and science can explain. Miracles are the proof that God is with us.

Jesus’ earthly life and His words through the Gospel accounts assure us that eternal life with HIM is within our reach and that there is a reckoning for those who embrace sin and evil. So for the faithful, we recognize that what we’re doing here on Earth really is about salvation. OUR salvation. But in all honesty, whether a person believes or is a NONE, for every human being ever conceived, eventually life on Earth ends and the souls’ Eternity begins.

God alone is the judge for a soul’s eternal life. We all sin and we must seek Reconciliation. This is how we reconcile our mortal minds with our own mortality. 

Jesus told us directly how to reconcile ourselves with God: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Mt 22:38-40

If  we truly follow these commands, when illness threatens body, soul is still at peace.

Soldiers or Lovers

In today’s gospel, Jesus’ disciples return from their experience of sharing the Good News. What should our approach to the outside world be?  Are we meant to go out as Christian soldiers or Catholic lovers?

These last three weeks we have heard in our gospels of the call we all have to be prophets in our non-Christian world. Just as in the time of Jesus, we leave church to face an indifferent or even hostile world. How are we to engage it, as soldiers or lovers? It has been suggested that we must arm ourselves with truth and steady ourselves to the assaults we will endure when we profess our faith in the world. Those supporting this approach use St Paul’s words to the Ephesians, “Therefore put on the full armor of God, that you may resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground.” We even call our school students the St. Dominic Knights.

But we are still haunted by, “What would Jesus do?” The power of Christ is love, not the sword. Although our Church history is laden with examples of harming unbelievers, if you accept our first reading, it is the Lord who holds the scales of justice. Our fight against evil is one in which it is Jesus who wars for us. When we go out, we must be secure in our own relationship with God, but the world will not be saved by the sword. The world will be saved by love. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” 
(John 13:35)

Come Away and Rest

As I prepared to write this reflection, I found myself pacing in my office. I was deep into the, “Lord, reveal to me what you need your disciples to hear so that it be your words not mine.” In the gospel from Mark I was struck by verse Mark 6: 31, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” How often do we do that? 

At this point in the Gospel of Mark, the apostles learn of John the Baptist’s death. Jesus desperately tries to remove them from the crowds so that they may come away by themselves and rest awhile. Jesus is encouraging self-care. Jesus is encouraging time to mourn. Jesus is loving His disciples, striving to provide them with what they need, yet the crowds press on.  What does this mean for our own lives? 

Our culture has allowed us to believe that busy is better. That the busier you are the better you are. It is a badge of honor to share how impossible your schedule is. Why? Is busier better? Is it somehow a show of popularity? Is it arrogance to some degree? I have come to learn through many Saintly examples that the busier we are, the less charitable we are able to be, that if we don’t set boundaries with our time, we are unable to respond to the demands of love around us. How does the adage go? You can’t give what you don’t have. Jesus clearly knows that and strives to provide that for His disciples.  We often see Jesus retreat in order to pray, to rest, to fill His cup. If He can do it, so should we. In today’s Gospel, He is teaching this important practice, to go away to a deserted place to rest.  As disciples, we must refresh, restore, and renew our energies in order to be the hands of Jesus in the world.

My fellow disciples, take time to go away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest awhile. Summer provides an opportunity to do that if we let it. This could mean turning off the radio in the car, sitting on the deck/patio so you are not distracted by the TV, putting down or putting away our phones, spending time just “being,” or visiting church to sit before the tabernacle or in Adoration. Simply unwind and unplug. If this isn’t part of your routine, might I suggest starting slow with 1 or 2 minutes and building up from there? To the unpracticed, one minute can seem like an eternity! Create a habit of withdrawing to fill your cup so that you can be a peace-filled disciple, one who is ready to respond to the demands of love placed before you on a daily basis. Go, rest a while.