DEATH & RESURRECTION

The title of my homily is, “Death and Resurrection.”

Serious topic – obviously.

Lent begins with ashes – a symbol of death and end – and ends with Easter – resurrection.

Ashes – the house, the forest – is burned down – and that’s all that remains – ashes – so too skeleton and dust.

Resurrection – rebuilding – reforesting – the sound of hammer and nail – a new house rising on the ruins of a former house – the sight of buds and new trees – new life – rising to new life – resurrection – Monday morning in eternity.

For the Christian, Lent can be a good season of challenge and spiritual growth.

Lent – 40 days: Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday. This year, February 25th till April 12th.

Moving from winter into spring – dark empty branches – slowly budding – breakthroughs.

Surprise – waking up one of these days in March to see those empty branches now breaking forth in green leaves.

Death to resurrection.

Emptiness to new life.

We who live in the northern hemisphere – with our homes and landscape in 4 season geography – get to see all this happen year after year after year – coinciding with Lent – moving towards the Spring of Easter.

Geography impacts us.

It makes a difference in how we think and feel, see and sing. It does depend on where we live. Those who grow up in South Florida or the Caribbean can have a different attitude towards life than those who grow up experiencing, spring, summer, autumn, winter, especially cold winter and empty trees – and then spring and on and on and on.

Whom we live with makes a difference. Whom we interact with makes a difference. What we eat, read, see, experience, become us.

The Christian is called upon to be salt and light – to help others to be zestier and brighter.

The Christian is called to make a difference in this world: in the home, in the neighborhood, in the church, how we enter and exit parking lots and stores – and especially how we treat each other in the work place.

Easy and poetic to say – difficult to do.

We are called to put others ahead of ourselves. Less self; more concern, care, kindness towards neighbor – spouse – children –parents – stranger.

We are called to die to self – and rise to new life.

We are called to be joyful Christians – to pray and practice the prayer of St. Teresa of Avila whose statue is here in our sanctuary, “From silly devotions and sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us.”

Christians believe in recovery after the disaster – starting again – and helping those who find recovery difficulty – whether its alcoholism, storms, floods, bankruptcy, out of work, depression, divorce, sickness or death.

Arriving at 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 – and somewhere along the line the graveyard – is not the end of life.

The Spanish writer, Miguel de Unamuno [1864-1936] quoted an old peasant who said, “If there is no immortality, what use is God?”

For the Christian, we have the faith to say, “We are immortal – because of Christ.”

As we say and sing at Mass: “Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again.”

The tree of the cross is the tree of the horror of death – the worst we human beings can do to each other. The tree of the cross is also the tree of the seed of hope: resurrection. Christ forgave from that cross. Christ redeemed us from that cross. Christ was taken down from that cross – and many that day, that Bad Friday thought that was the end.

Resurrection is the central act of faith and hope for the Christian.

This is the big Lent to Easter – winter to spring message.

Notice Lent is a season – a period of time. Life is not instant fix.

Conversion – recovery – new beginnings takes time.

So the 40 days of Lent is a model for all of us to realize growth is 40 days, a day at a time, a step at a time, a week at a time.

It’s good to take time out to pray and to fast.

It’s good to give up something for Lent – like fasting from TV one night a week, or the computer one day a week (unless we use one for our job – or we’re doing school work) or fasting from alcohol or bad language or self and my way – and surprise we discover we’re addicted to things and patterns and behaviors we didn’t realize we were chained to.

It’s good to do something extra for Lent – like 5 minutes of prayer per day. Designate a favorite chair as our prayer chair in some quiet place in our home - some inner room - and escape to that prayer chair for time to be with God. I don’t know if there are any more Lenten materials in the back. Use them or the scriptures or say one decade of the Rosary. Father George cut up thousands of little strips of paper. They are in the baskets in the back. Grab one. Put it in your wallet. Look at each day for a moment. See all the things it will say to you this Lent.

Today is Ash Wednesday – the beginning of Lent.

Lent is a good time to have the reality of our life span rubbed in our face.