5) DEATH

ON THE CROSS

What have been the deaths in your life?

Death is the so called elephant in our living room.

Just as we have a birthday, we have a deathday.

Not knowing the second date helps make life that much more interesting.

Most prefer to avoid the presence of death in their autobiography.

Death, however, announces its presence on a regular basis.

The obituary column arrives on our porch along with the rest of the daily paper.

We notice death when a family member or a friend dies.

We become more and more aware of death as the number of candles on our birthday cake increase.

It helps to accept death’s reality – but it also helps to take care of our health with a balanced diet and regular exercise.

Death is in the cards as they say. The other cards in the deck can be used for cute fortune telling, but everyone is dealt the death card eventually.

Death challenges us to live life to the full – and to reflect on particulars when it comes to the question of why God made me.

As Samuel Johnson, the famous British writer put it, “Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”

Calvary is a steep hill above every town.

The cross is on the top not only of our churches, but also our homes.

The funeral business will never go out of business.

People are dying all the time.

We all know the experienced of the loss of a loved one.

Death is in the wings.

Death doesn’t wait.

Death.

We hope there is resurrection.

THE
GLORIOUS MYSTERIES

Life has its glorious mysteries – the bigger than life moments –glorious moments – climbing higher moments – crowning with glory instead of sorrow moments of life.

We look to the mystery of Jesus and Mary to understand the call to glory that God calls us to – especially through these mysteries:

1) Resurrection moments: these are moments when rise again after the deep sorrow of losing a loved one. These are moments when we start all over again after a fire or after being fired. These are moments when we meet the risen Christ in the morning after a long night of pain.

2) Ascension moments: these are moments when we climb out the pit of depression or recover from an addiction one day at a time. These are moments when we see the next step when we didn’t know what that step was.

3) Decension moments: these are moments when the Spirit of God comes down upon us – when the Spirit shakes the foundations of our being and we breathe in a breath of fresh peace.

4) Assumption moments: these are moments when our old assumptions fall apart and new ones appear – when we finally begin to grasp why pictures and statues of Mary are everywhere – when we begin to see she models the life of the Christian – now and into the hereafter.

5) Crowning moments: these are moments when we reach the finish line – when we see that it’s all worth it – the sacrifice and the giving – the being there for others – the emptying of the self to be filled with the fullness of God.

1) RESURRECTION OF JESUS

FROM THE DEAD

When have you experienced “Resurrection Moments” – a moment you just knew someone who died is with the Lord?

Obviously death – the end of the line – is part of life – whether we like to look at it or not.

Obviously death – for the Christian – is not the end of the line.

Yet, death – especially after a long life or a long struggle with cancer – or Alzheimer’s – looks like that’s “The End” of our movie.

But because of Christ we Christians believe there is a sequel – another life - a new life – a never ending eternity in God.

Hopefully, when we look death in the eye, we’ll see Jesus the Light of the World waiting for us on the other side of the dark tunnel of death.

Every year we celebrate Easter as a way of saying to ourselves, “We believe in life after death – because of Jesus.”

Each Sunday we say the same thing by celebrating the Eucharist with each other.

“Dying you destroyed our death,
rising you restored our life.
Lord Jesus, come in glory.”

Each sunset teaches us endings; every sunrise teaches us beginnings.

We know birth; we know death; has resurrection dawned on us yet?

At some point in life, usually when we are older, Easter appears as a sunrise before us. Do we stop to watch it?

Easter is a feast of hope.

Easter is a feast of light.

Easter is a feast of new life.

Easter is a feast of the bursting up out of the earth of new flowers, new life, new possibilities.

We believe.

Jesus rose from the dead – giving us hope in the same possibility for us too.

Amen. Come Lord Jesus.

Roll away any heavy stones of doubt.

2) ASCENSION OF

JESUS INTO HEAVEN

What have been the most significant steps in your life?

What have been the steps in your life that were the greatest risk?

A small child crawls along the floor to the bottom of a flight of stairs. He looks up to the top and sees or hears his mother up there and realizes unconsciously, “I can’t make it up these stairs”. So he cries for “Help!” and his mother comes down and picks him up and takes him to the top of the stairs.

Sometimes a little child is scared when she’s picked up and lifted high up into the air – but then when she sees herself high above everyone and everything else, she smiles and laughs and feels mighty glorious.

The bread and the cup are lifted high at every Mass.

The best-man at a wedding lifts high his glass and toasts the bridegroom, his friend, and wishes him and his wife, “All the best and then some.”

And everyone at the wedding banquet does the same.

The athlete who wins the gold medal at the Olympics or the Special Olympics stands tall on the top box.

Statues are put on pedestals.

Our favorite pictures are framed and put on top of the television or on our book shelves or end tables.

Every sport and every school have their halls of fame.

Hospital employees, teachers, athletes, hard workers are acknowledge by being named “Teacher of the Month” “Athlete of The Week” or asked to stand up at a banquet and be acknowledged, appreciated, thanked, congratulated and applauded.

Life’s ascension moments are many.

Married couples celebrate their 25th and 50th anniversaries.

Bread rises.

The cream rises to the top.

In the first Rocky movie, Rocky Balboa climbs, ascends, to the top of the stairs outside the Philadelphia Art museum and raises his arms in triumph. The famous musical piece, “Gonna Fly Now”, composed and scored by Bill Conti, gets louder and louder and as he climbs the stairs till fills the theater. It presents to all the movie goers a preview of things to come.

Ascension….

A rising star….

At the stadium when a team scores a touchdown, a goal, a point, a homerun, a great basket, fans stand up, yell, and raise their arms in triumph as if they too made the play.

We are all connected.

We all want to ascend the stairs of greatness.

The Ascension is a feast of The More.

The Ascension is a feast that announces, “There’s much more to come.”

Jesus died.

That is not “The End”.

Jesus rose.

Jesus then promised The More – the Soaring More – an ascension into the next.
There’s always the next – the More.

Isn’t God wonderful?

Isn’t God mysterious?

Isn’t God always surprising us?
The banquet is never over!

Our mansion is waiting for us.

Ascension.

3) DESCENT

OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

When have you experienced the coming of the Holy Spirit.

Come Holy Spirit!

The Holy Spirit like a mighty wind shook the shutters of the Upper Room where the disciples of Jesus were down with fear.

It looked like everything was over!

They had heard from Jesus about resurrection – but they hadn’t really experienced it yet. They had forgotten about Jesus’ tears and screams that brought Lazarus back from the dead.

They had celebrated the old feast of Pentecost, but they hadn’t experienced the new feast of Pentecost yet.

Fear went out the window with the breath of fresh air that came in the window that first Easter night.

For 40 days the Risen Jesus was preparing them for the next, for The More.

He gave them the great promise of the Spirit – especially when he was lifted up, when he ascended into heaven.

And on the 50th day – there came a new moment in their lives – the bursting forth of the Great Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, and went forth to the whole world with Good News.

Come Holy Spirit to me.

Breathe into me new life – a new spirit.

We’ve all seen people who were down, people who had lost their spirit, lost their faith, become depressed, and then “after some time” rise out of their doom and shuttered lives, and begin breathing new life into our world.

We’ve all seen teams that had given up, had too many losing streaks, get a new coach or a few new key players, and things got turned around and they danced their way to championships.

We’ve all heard about Alcoholics Anonymous where men and women who were being destroyed by addiction to the spirits in alcoholic – get a second wind, a new life, and recovered and their lives became manageable. They met in basements and upper rooms and a new spirit was breathed into them – from the group – from the Higher Power of God.

We’ve all heard about a teenager who changed dramatically for the better because of a failure or a great teacher or a change of schools or he or she just came of age and they woke up one morning with a new Spirit.

The Spirit can descends on everyone – like a bird quietly flying down and landing on a branch – or like a gentle breeze on a hot humid day – or like tongues of fire than can inspire. Yet, each of us has the choice: to accept the Holy Spirit and begin to branch out into new life or shut the Spirit away by closing our shutters; to allow the wind of the Spirit to blow the sails of our boat out to the open sea as we head for new harbors or to stay stuck in the same old place; to keep the torch and fire of the Spirit burning within us or to smother its flames.

Come Holy Spirit.

Come Dove of Peace.

Come Breeze of God.

Come Fire – Passionate Spirit of God.

4) ASSUMPTION OF MARY

INTO HEAVEN

When have you experienced the Catholic understanding of Mary – and her place in the Christian life?

When have you experienced being frustrated when non-Catholics don’t understand or even criticize the place of Mary in the Christian life?

The Assumption of Mary into heaven has two great message of hope for all human beings on earth: there is life after death; there is resurrection of our body.

It would be a safe assumption that most of us don’t worry about the resurrection of our body, just as long as there is life after death. In fact, it’s also a safe assumption that most of us will die because our bodies will be sick and tired and finally give out.

We don’t know what life after death is like. Religions which teach that there is life after death, often use images of mansions, green meadows, and enormous wedding banquets – all of which call for us to have a body.

What it will be like is mystery.

Obviously, we don’t have any scientific proof for any of this. For the Christian, life after death is a great act of faith. This faith is based on the words of Jesus before and after his death.

After his resurrection, Jesus showed his disciples – especially Thomas – the wounds in his hands and his side. He embraced Mary of Magdala at the empty tomb. He ate fish at the Lake of Galilee.

Jesus disciples saw and believed. Jesus said words to Thomas that were aimed at us: “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe.”

Christians believe in that Jesus rose from the dead.

“My Lord and my God!”

Christians believe in the resurrection of the body – starting with the body of the Risen Lord Jesus.

There is no grave in Jerusalem marked, “Jesus!”

Catholics also belief there is no grave in Jerusalem or Ephesus or anywhere marked, “Mary.”

But for most of the rest of us, there will be a gravestone with our name and dates on it. And there our remains will be buried.

So don’t we have to wait till the end of time for the resurrection of our bodies?

Yes – because if a grave is opened there will be a skeleton or the ashes of a person, if they were cremated and buried there. So obviously our dead bodies or our ashes remain and in time dissolve into earth. Drive down any local road for 25 miles and you’ll go by a graveyard.

No – in the sense of whatever the Christian teaching of “resurrection of the body” means. When we enter into eternity we are out of time – and so we come into eternity – however one enters eternity.

Mary, follows Christ – and they lead the way for the rest of us.

Of course, this is all mystery. We have to die to find out.

In the meanwhile we make the great act of faith every Sunday from the Nicean Creed: We look for the in resurrection of the dead.

The Assumption of Mary into heaven puts flesh onto the statement in the Apostles creed: “I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.”

It’s mystery. It’s faith. It’s trust. It’s hope. It’s the unknown.

Death also moves out of time and into eternity.

We’ve all had wonderful glimpses of being outside of time – in prayer, in marriage, on vacation, with friends, when time is totally forgotten and all is bliss.

We’ve also had negative glimpses of being outside of time – when stuck in traffic, while waiting for doctors, while worrying about children – when we are in interminable pain.

The assumption of Mary into heaven tells the follower of Jesus what is in store for every human being who enters into the glorious mystery of Christ.

Mary is changed in death into the mystery of Risen Christ.

Mary is changed like water into wine at Cana for the eternal wedding banquet of heaven.

Christians believe in the resurrection of the body. This mystery of the Assumption of Mary gives hope for all who fear knocking on the door of death.

When we are invited to a banquet we look our best – we dress our best – we go to the gathering ready to celebrate, to feast, to dance, to sing.

Mary enters into the eternal dance wearing the white garment of immortality. She leads the 144 thousand into the holy city, into the harmony, into the eternal bliss, into the eternal banquet, into the eternal fields, into the eternal light, into the Father’s house, into the Father’s presence, into the Father’s embrace.

5) CROWING OF MARY

QUEEN OF HEAVEN

Does every life have a crowning moment?

When have been your crowning moments?

What about those folks who feel like they have been miserable failures all their life?

Do we all spend a lot of our time rehashing or rethinking the moments of our life – the decisions, the what if’s, the choices, the things we thought were fair and unfair.

Do we all spend time trying to figure out the motivations of others from the moments of others?

Every funeral has people – especially family – trying to figure out the life of the one who has just died.

We stand there in the funeral parlor talking to each other about the person whose funeral it is.

Every life has defining moments – and if we look deep enough and talk to each other enough – we’ll be able to figure some of the meanings of each other’s life.

People are fond of quoting Andy Warhol’s famous comment, “In the future everyone will be world-famous for fifteen minutes.” This statement appeared in the Catalogue of his Stockholm photo exhibition in 1968. Andy Warhol certainly had his fifteen minutes of fame.

How about each of us?

Mary of Nazareth has had her moments of fame. She has had her picture on the front cover of more magazines than any woman in history – and based on the number of pictures of her, she is the most pictured woman in history.

If the Annunciation was the defining moment in her life, then the crowning moment was her “arrival” in heaven. This crowning moment flowed out of the moment in time when Mary said “Yes” at the Annunciation.

“Hail Mary full of grace.”

Obviously, it’s difficult to picture what life after death is like. We’re dealing with a great mystery.

However, when we use the image of “crowning” pictures come to mind and our imagination.

We’ve all seen kings and queens crowned in movies.

We’ve all seen people honored at banquets.

We’ve seen athletes or teams being crowned as winners – winning the World Series in baseball or the Super Bowl in football or the Stanley Cup in hockey.

A couple of times a year we see advertisements on television to watch the Miss USA or Miss World beauty contests.

So obviously, our imagination can picture God crowning Mary, the spotless one, the one who brought Jesus into the world.

But God is not the only one who has crowned Mary. Christians, but especially Catholics, have honored her right from the beginning.

The words of Elizabeth in the Magnificat have certainly leapt in the womb of human consciousness: pictures and statues of Mary are everywhere – and often she is crowned.

Go into any famous art museum and you’ll find paintings of Mary – by some of history’s greatest artists: Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Peter Paul Rubens, El Greco, and on and on.

Go into Catholic homes – especially those of the poor – and you’ll spot an honored picture or statue of Mary on top of a bureau or on the wall.

· Our Mother of Perpetual Help,
· Our Lady of Guadalupe,
· Our Lady of Czestochowa,
· Our Lady of Lourdes,
· Our Lady of Fatima,
· Our Lady of Knock,
· Our Lady of Aparecida
· The Pieta,
· The Immaculate Heart,
· The Immaculate Conception,
· Our Lady of Chartres
· Our Lady of Mount Carmel
· Our Lady of Africa
· Our Lady of Medjugoria

“Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with you.”

And the message of the crowning is simple and basic. It is known by everyone: “No cross, no crown.”

Why God chose Mary? Now that’s mystery.

Why God created us? Now that’s mystery.

God calls us to say “Yes” to life as Mary did. Bring Jesus to our world, as Mary did. Then when we march into heaven, we too will realize our life has been royal. We have helped make, “Thy kingdom come!” we will realize that was the crowning moment of our life.

“Hail Mary, full of Grace, the Lord is with you.”

The angel Gabriel is not the only one who has greeted Mary with those words. We do over and over again when we say the Rosary – and God says it in the crowning of Mary – the favored one from Nazareth.