Homily: Twenty-first Thursday of Ordinary Time

Twenty-first Thursday of Ordinary Time (Mt. 23:27-32) “What is Incorrupt?”

On the road to Jerusalem there were tombs cut into various hillsides around the city. The entrances were hewn in the rock and there were white slabs of rock that covered the openings. Either they were naturally white, or they were whitewashed.

As pilgrims came into the city the sun would reflect off the slabs covering the entrances to the tombs. The white marble on the temple would glow as well. It looked supernatural. One might think to themselves, what a wonderful and holy city!

But the reality is that the tombs that were so bright in the sun were full of decaying bodies. In times past, many important people built elaborate tombs for burial. Or, they might have huge grave markers. We need only go to an older cemetery to see giant granite markers.

What were the people who built these monuments trying to do? Were they trying to maintain the worldly influence even after they had died? We scoff at this idea. We cannot deny the reality of death.

In modern times, we might say that we are still trying to deny death, but we do it in a different way. We now try to destroy the evidence that someone ever existed. We cremate people and we scatter their ashes.

I buried someone recently who wrote a last will and testament. This man pointed out that the only thing that we possess in life that lasts is the charitable acts we engage in. People do not necessarily go out to cemeteries to look at elaborate grave markers to remind themselves of who the dead were.

We do trade stories about those who have gone before us. We remember if someone was a scoundrel. We remember if someone was a saint and the actions that showed their virtue. We have a history in the church of opening the tombs of saints to see if their bodies have decomposed. Sometimes they have not. What causes this phenomenon? It is the virtues of the people who have died. Once again, it is personal holiness that is eternal, nothing else.

1.    Do I believe that my good deeds will be remembered after I die? Do I remember the good deeds of deceased friends and relatives?

2.   How do I want to be remembered? What am I doing to make sure that I am?

 Dear Parishioners,

            Another ministry that we rely on at funerals is the ministry of reader. At times families do not have a family member who wants to read at their loved one’s funeral. Sometimes people are not comfortable speaking in public.

          At those funerals the parish supplies a lector. Are you free during the day and could you provide this service to others. If you can, please call our office. A good reader helps provide a dignified liturgy for those who have died.

          May Our Lady Pray for all those who suffer because of natural disaster this day.

          Fr. Mark