Those of us who are old enough to recall the days before Vatican II changed our liturgies may recall that from time to time we would hear a sermon instead of a homily. A sermon could be whatever the preacher wanted to talk about while a homily has to be a reflection on the readings or the Mass. All homilies are sermons but not all sermons are homilies.
One sermon I recall from my childhood days in Lakewood was delivered on a hot muggy Sunday morning. After reading the gospel, the pastor simply said, “If you think it is hot in here, just remember that it is hotter in hell.”
We have no clue what hell will be like. Many imagine hell to be a flaming inferno while others presume hell to be cold and barren like the surface of the moon. Whatever hell is doesn’t matter. What matters is that God won’t be there but the devil will be along with those who “belong to his company.”
Likewise, we don’t know what heaven will be like either, yet we believe that ultimately our destination will be one of thesetwo places. The choice is up to us and being human, we can often change our minds about where we want to spend eternity. One moment we may very much want to be in heaven with God and our loved ones. The next moment, we may be duped by the devil to think otherwise when we are tempted to turn away from God and commit a grave sin.
The readings show how ambivalent we feel toward death. Because death is such a horrible thing, the thought of dyingleaves a bad taste. Even Jesus doesn’t want to deal with the hard fact of death when he insists that the girl was asleep, not dead. We often speak of death respectfully when forced to mention it at all.
When expressing their condolences, some people say that a person’s death must be God’s will. I respectfully disagree. To say that is to suggest that God does evil things. As the Book of Wisdom tells us, God did not make death nor does God rejoice in the destruction of the living. God never wills death. Rather, God formed us to be imperishable; we have the capability to transcend mortality and live forever. As we heard, death entered the world by the envy of the devil.Consequently, all creatures do die. Being omnipotent, God knows everything, but obviously doesn’t control all thingssince we have free will. God knows the moment of ourdeath, but God does not set the time, fate did.
Perhaps my death will be the result of an accident or an act of violence. I could be in the wrong place at the wrong time and become a victim of someone else’s actions such as being hit by a drunk or distracted driver. Or my death may be the outcome of choices I have made that resulted in a terminal illness such as heart disease or cancer. Death and disease are the consequences of sin, either our own due tochoices we’ve made or others make. At some point in time, you and I will meet death and when we do, what will be the outcome?
In the gospel we found two people grasping for life. We would do the same if we were in their situation. Who among us when seriously ill wouldn’t chase after every means, both medically and spiritually, to be healed? But would we go the extra mile that Jairus and the afflicted woman did? They both had faith that Jesus would heal. A faith that saves isn’t based on miracles but on the act of coming to Jesus even in the face of public ridicule. Faith in who Jesus is and what he can do prompted them to act; giving them the courage to approach Jesus convinced that he could indeed help them.
Coming to Jesus and encountering him always changes our experience, situations, and expectations. The faith of Jairus and the woman allowed for a different outcome to be ushered in by the presence of Jesus, which opened the door to the new life he could offer them. Their humble petitions made visible the faith to which others, including us, are being called. Simply put, faith is the act of actively seeking Jesus.
This gospel’s healing stories reveal Jesus to us as the Lord of Life. Death, debilitating illnesses, and chronic medical conditions shatter any illusion of our control over life. The tenuousness and fragility of life prompts us to follow the example of Jairus and the woman who suffered for so long and to turn to Jesus with nothing but utter faith. Do we have the faith to touch and be touched by Jesus so that whatever is dead within us can be restored to life?
When we turn to Jesus in need of healing, what he offers may not always be what we are seeking. At some point in time, we will encounter that extraordinary moment when we take our last breath and we cross the threshold of death. When we do, what lies ahead? If we are seeking Jesus, then our faith teaches us that heaven awaits us and he will say to us, “I say to you, arise!” By seeking Jesus, we transcend our mortality to live forever in his presence. When that happens, we will indeed praise Jesus for he has rescued us from the bleakness of hell.
On the other hand, if we aren’t consciously seeking Jesus, allowing our faith to become complacent, we might find ourselves numbered among those who belong to the company of the devil. Before we give into the devil’s sly message that God doesn’t matter, we must recall the assuring words of Jesus, “Do not be afraid, just have faith,” for he, not the devil, assures us we will live forever.