Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church

Homily for November 6, 2005
Liturgical Year A-Cycle I
32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time
by Fr. John Carney
Topic: Are we ready for death?
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Gospel
Mt 25:1-13
Jesus told his disciples this parable: "The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.  Five of them were foolish and five were wise.  The foolish ones, when taking their lamps, brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.  Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep. At midnight, there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.  The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise ones replied, 'No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.’ While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.  Then the door was locked. Afterwards the other virgins came and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open the door for us!’ But he said in reply, ‘Amen, I I say  to you, I do not know you.’ Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour."
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Fr. Murphy was having a leisurely morning on his day off and he opened the newspaper to the obituary section.  He was shocked to find his name.  A great mistake had occurred.  Without hesitation he called the Archbishop.  "Archbishop, did you see my name in the obituary?"  The Archbishop said, “I did.  Where are you calling from Father?"

That is a repeat this week.  I used that on All Saints Day, but there were so few of you here.

We are entering into the last three weeks of the Church year.  Today is the 32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time.  Next is the 33rd and then the last Sunday of Ordinary Time is Christ the King Sunday.  Then November 27th, we begin the new church year, Cycle B, where we’ll focus mostly on the Gospel according to Saint Mark.  Because it is the end of the church year, the theme of these readings today and the next two weeks, is death.  That was clearly the theme of the Gospel today. Be ready for you do not know the day or the hour.  That parable, of course, is easy to understand.  The groom is Jesus; the wedding scene represents the kingdom of heaven, and bridesmaids and groomsman, that’s us.  The oil in the lamp is our good works and our state of grace.  The point of the parable is clear--be ready always and everywhere because you do not know when you will die.

We do not know the day or the hour.  Recently, I read a reflection by Fr. Mark Link, a Jesuit priest and author.  He talked about the city pf Pompeii.  I think some of you have visited it.  As a matter of fact, some of you have visited everyplace.  You are perpetually "on travel".  Pompeii, as you know, was destroyed by an eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in the year 79 AD.  It was buried under 18 feet of ash.  It hardened over the centuries. It was only in recent history that the ruins were excavated.  It was amazing what was found. Among other things, they found olives still in their oil.  They found some fruit encased in ash that had not decayed for some reason, it still had flavor to it.  They found loaves of carbonized bread, and of course, they found many bodies. The population of Pompeii was supposed to be about 20,000.  Apparently there was some warning, but some did not leave the city, and certainly several thousand perished.  Because of the way the ash descended upon the city and the quickness of the disaster, many bodies were found in the positions of their death as they were going about their worth that day. Actually, the bodies had decayed, but there was a hollow space in the hardened ash.  The archeologists filled with some kind of plaster and voila, they had the form of the human person as they were found in death.

Among those found, was a mother holding her baby, protecting her child at the moment of death.  There was also a Romansolider, a Sentinel, found with lance in hand, actually standing at the ready.  He had not deserted his post.  There was also a man found with a sword in hand standing over a treasure of silver and gold and other precious things.  Probably, it was speculated, protecting his treasures from would be looters during the disaster.

We know not the day or the hour.  Do you agree that we don’t know the day or the hour? You could have asked that question last week in Indiana and Kentucky.  You know this morning, 11 people perished at 2 a.m.  A terrible tornado just took their lives in their sleep.  We just don’t know.  And yet we act like we do know, or we act like we don’t care, sometimes.  There is something in the back of our heads that says, "Don’t worry, they’ll be time.  There will be time to get things right.  We don’t have to do that just now." 

As I look at those who have died this past year in our own parish there are always several, sometimes half of the people, who die without warning, suddenly; even elderly folks who die without warning.  Not even a day to reflect on what is about to happen.  It is easy to say "prepare for death", but when we don’t even want to talk about it…it is such a sad difficult subject. Or when we’re in denial about death, it is hard to prepare for something that you don’t admit.  We live in a death denying society, or at least we want to defer death. 

There was an article, I had read it long ago, but somehow it repeated itself, and maybe you read it too.  Scientists think that maybe we can live to be 130, 140, 150, 160 years old.  One of the tricks they speculate is that we must almost starve ourselves, and we’ll live longer.  Does that sound appealing to you?  I’d rather die fat and sassy than be 139-year-old skeleton.  The whole point is that there is this tremendous desire to live longer.  I understand that.

This time on earth is so short anyways.  Time in eternity, we can’t even discuss it. It is infinite.  Does it matter that much if we live 50 or 80 or 100 or 200 years?  Does it really matter?  I think the answer is no. If we weren’t so afraid of death, maybe we’d be better prepared for it. 

Some people don’t see death as a great enemy. St. Francis called death his sister in the Canticle of the Sun.  The great Mozart called death his friend.  St. Francis first said this, "Praise be my Lord for our sister, the death of the body, from which no one escapes.  Woe to him who dies in mortal sin.  Blessed are those who die in thy most holy will, for the second death will have no power to do them harm."  Listen to these words from Mozart.  I was surprised to read these recently.

"As death, when we come to consider it closely, is the true goal of our existence, I have formed during the last few years such close relationships with this best and truest friend of mankind that death's image is not only no longer terrifying to me, but is indeed very soothing and consoling, and I thank my God for graciously granting me the opportunity...of learning that death is the key which unlocks the door to our true happiness. I never lie down at night without reflecting that--young as I am--I may not live to see another day. Yet no one of all my acquaintances could say that in company I am morose or disgruntled, for this blessing I daily thank my Creator and wish with all my heart that each one of my fellow creatures could understand this as well."
 
We will die, each one of us. Today the question is posed, how will death find you? Like the mother caring for her child, like the solider doing his duty and being faithful to his office, or like the rich man standing over his CDs and stocks?  How will death find you?

I’d ask you to bow your heads, if you would, as we pray the beautiful prayer of John Henry Cardinal Newman.  Let us pray.

May the Lord strengthen us all the day long, until the shade lengthens, and the evening comes and the busy world is hushed and the fever of life is over and our work is done.  Then is his mercy may he give us a safe lodging, a holy rest, and peace at last.  We pray through Christ our Lord.

Amen.