Article for Thirty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Daniel 12: 1-3 Heb 10: 11-14, 18 Mark 13: 24-32
What can a fig tree teach us about death? No, this is not a knock off of a banking commercial. It is a legitimate questions that Jesus posses to his disciples. In Sunday’s gospel Jesus tells his disciples to” learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, at the gates” There are those that believe that Jesus is talking about the end of the world in the gospel today but in fact he is talking about the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. What is important to note is that Jesus is talking about final days. What seems to amaze him is the fact that the people are so knowledgeable about things pertaining to nature but fail to recognize the limits that are part of their lives. During this month we remember the souls that have gone before us. This Sunday’s readings call us to consider the fragility of our lives. Jesus says “But of that day or hour, no one knows” If life is so fragile how is it that we don’t want to talk about death? The simple fact is we either believe that we are immortal or we don’t want to deal with the reorganization of priorities that thoughts of death force us to make. Most of us put a good deal of time into making sure we will be good looking corpses with great bank accounts. How is it that we are so knowledgeable about such things and we fail to realize that our bodies are only shells that house God’s Spirit and we can’t take it with us? If life is so fragile and death is potentially “at the gates” each day we need to recognize that fact and to make the appropriate changes in our lives now. The first step in making those changes is to remember those that have gone before us in death. The best way to do that is to visit the cemetery. People tell me that they keep meaning to visit the graves of their deceased family members but can’t somehow find the time. I think the real reason is we don’t want to be reminded that on the day of that person’s burial we promised that their spirit would live on in our lives in some form. Now you may be saying “Father, you didn’t know so and so and I am telling you, there isn’t anything worth remembering about them”. I would have to respond that it is my belief that God never puts a person on this earth unless God is telling us something about God in that person. Agreed, it might be harder to find God in some, but God was in their life. It might require some grave side forgiveness and some tears but God is there. A good number of people are into antiques. Why do we want all those old things around? Well, they keep us in touch with our past. One of the things that trouble me about the pace of life is that our children are losing a sense of their Roman Catholic history. We can do something about this by remembering that the Roman Catholic Church played a big part in the formation of most of us. During this month of All Souls we can pass that heritage on by visiting the cemeteries, taking out the family albums and telling the stories of those who have died to our children. It is our duty to remember, to celebrate and believe. If we don’t we will be just like those Jesus was addressing when he reminded them that they knew a great deal but didn’t know much about what was really important.