Homily: Fourth Friday of Easter
Fourth Friday of Easter (John 14:1-6) “Which Way Do I Go?”
I was called to the hospital yesterday to pray with someone who was dying in intensive care. The family had to make the decision to remove life support from their loved one. This is always a very difficult moment for a family.
I remember having to decide to stop treatment on my father eight years ago. He had a series of infections. Antibiotics had been used repeatedly. We were fighting a losing battle.
At moments like this we can think of the Gospel that we read today. Jesus knew that he was facing death. Death is the great unknown. Someone once compared it to being a child and having to go to bed when the adults are still enjoying a party. As a child we are not ready to go. The dying sense that they are not ready to leave either. The living many times aren’t ready to let go of those that they love.
Thomas was not ready to let Jesus die. He wanted him to stay. Jesus tries to reassure Thomas. He says that he is blazing a trail into eternal life that Thomas will follow. Thomas is hesitant. Was the way Jesus died the best way? Why not compromise to stay alive longer? Jesus says it is better to die for truth and right than to stay alive at any cost.
Thomas learns the lesson Jesus teaches very well. We believe that Thomas followed the way of Jesus completely. He went out as a missionary to spread the Gospel. When it came time to choose between saving his life and proclaiming the truth Thomas chose a martyr’s death. But Thomas despite physical death lives with the saints in glory.
Jesus has shown us all that we can be confident in the face of death. The dying person is like Jesus blazing a trail for us. We let them go. Eventually we will follow to a better party than the one we left behind.
Reflection Questions:
- Who have I lost to sister death? What did I think when they left me?
- Am I trying to lead others to Christ? How am I doing that?
Dear Parishioners,
Titus Brandsma will be canonized a saint on Sunday by Pope Francis. He was a Carmelite priest who died in the concentration camp at Dachau in 1942. Brandsma is a saint whose story resonates today. He was an educator and journalist. Throughout the 1930’s and into the 1940’s he wrote in various publications denouncing Nazism. When the Nazis instructed schools to expel Jews. Brandsma wrote a letter to the schools that he supervised telling his administrators not to comply with the order.
He was arrested and sent to Dachau. He looked at his time in the death camp as a time to grow closer to Christ. He thanked God that he could imitate Jesus in this most profound way. He grew sick and was sent to the infirmary. The Nazis would often go through the infirmary and execute prisoners who were weak. A woman was charged with administering the lethal injections. Titus Brandsma treated her kindly despite her role in executions. He gave her a rosary one day. The woman was an adamant atheist. When his executioner gave Brandsma the lethal dose that killed him she had a pang of conscience that she could not ignore. Eventually she began to believe in God, and she converted to Catholicism.
We could remember this weekend all those journalists who have died in war zones. Journalists have died in Ukraine. A woman journalist died on the West Bank in Palestine just this week. Even though they wear bullet proof garb with the word journalist painted on their body and are unarmed reporters have become targets. Brandsma could be the patron saint of all those who give their life to proclaim the truth.
May Our Lady of Peace pray for our world today.
Fr. Mark