What do you say about a young girl who died?
January 7, 2005
Do you remember the movie “Love Story.” It came out right around 1970 and starred Ali Mc Graw and Ryan O’Neal. It wasn’t a very good movie, but it was really popular. Nowadays, we’d call it a chick flick.
The movie began with the line, “What do you say about a young girl who died?” For some reason, that line came to me yesterday as I was sitting in a packed St. Mark’s church for Elizabeth E’s funeral. What do you say about a young girl who died?
What John says in today’s first reading would be a good place to start: “Who indeed is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” As long as we believe, there is nothing that this world can do to us that makes any difference. We will be victorious! Elizabeth was sixteen. Her battle is over. She won.
But, why? Why was her life so short? Luke gives us part of the answer in today’s Gospel. Jesus healed the leper. He ordered him not to tell anyone, but as Luke says, “the report about Him spread all the more.” Then he tells us that “great crowds assembled to listen to him and to be cured of their ailments, but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.”
Even when He was here on earth, he didn’t heal everybody. Sometimes He would withdraw. He would go off by himself to pray. By His example, He shows us that prayer was more important than healing. If we pray, we’ll be victorious. If we’re healed of all illness and injury, then we just have to continue on.
There’s a country song called “Lord, I want to go to heaven, but I don’t want to go today.” I think that’s the way most of us feel. We’re afraid of change. We’re afraid of the unknown. We want to stay in our comfort zone, even though we know that what’s waiting for us is so much better.
It’s like being marooned on a sand bar in a river, with a cliff on one side and alligators on the other. Our little dog is with us on the sandbar. The alligators are getting closer and closer.
The only way for us to escape is to climb the cliff. But, we’re afraid. We can’t see the top of the cliff, so we don’t know just how high it is. It may be ten feet or a hundred feet. We might fall and be killed. Of course, if we stay put, we’ll be eaten by the gators. But many of us would rather stay and risk certain death than try to climb up. Besides, the dog can’t climb, and we don’t want to leave him for the alligators. We don’t leave the ones we love behind. Even though we do have some rope which we could tie around his waist and pull him up after we get to the top, we just don’t want to leave the danger that we know, to face something we don’t know.
Jesus has gone on ahead and prepared a place for us. He told us that. All we have to do is believe. We have to have faith and sometimes we have to have courage. I believe Elizabeth had both. In life she asked that if anything ever happened to her, she wanted to be an organ donor. Today seven people will live as a result of her generosity. Seven people. What a wonderful legacy that is.
Here at St. Bernadette, our own XXX is alive today because a young person from the Kansas City area was an organ donor. His life is a testimony to the good that can come, even from a tragedy. If you haven’t already, today would be a good day to consider being an organ donor yourself.
Jesus didn’t heal everybody. Sometimes there is no physical healing. But, as John says, we can be victorious over this world and spend eternity in paradise, if we believe.
Do you remember the movie “Love Story.” It came out right around 1970 and starred Ali Mc Graw and Ryan O’Neal. It wasn’t a very good movie, but it was really popular. Nowadays, we’d call it a chick flick.
The movie began with the line, “What do you say about a young girl who died?” For some reason, that line came to me yesterday as I was sitting in a packed St. Mark’s church for Elizabeth E’s funeral. What do you say about a young girl who died?
What John says in today’s first reading would be a good place to start: “Who indeed is the victor over the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” As long as we believe, there is nothing that this world can do to us that makes any difference. We will be victorious! Elizabeth was sixteen. Her battle is over. She won.
But, why? Why was her life so short? Luke gives us part of the answer in today’s Gospel. Jesus healed the leper. He ordered him not to tell anyone, but as Luke says, “the report about Him spread all the more.” Then he tells us that “great crowds assembled to listen to him and to be cured of their ailments, but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray.”
Even when He was here on earth, he didn’t heal everybody. Sometimes He would withdraw. He would go off by himself to pray. By His example, He shows us that prayer was more important than healing. If we pray, we’ll be victorious. If we’re healed of all illness and injury, then we just have to continue on.
There’s a country song called “Lord, I want to go to heaven, but I don’t want to go today.” I think that’s the way most of us feel. We’re afraid of change. We’re afraid of the unknown. We want to stay in our comfort zone, even though we know that what’s waiting for us is so much better.
It’s like being marooned on a sand bar in a river, with a cliff on one side and alligators on the other. Our little dog is with us on the sandbar. The alligators are getting closer and closer.
The only way for us to escape is to climb the cliff. But, we’re afraid. We can’t see the top of the cliff, so we don’t know just how high it is. It may be ten feet or a hundred feet. We might fall and be killed. Of course, if we stay put, we’ll be eaten by the gators. But many of us would rather stay and risk certain death than try to climb up. Besides, the dog can’t climb, and we don’t want to leave him for the alligators. We don’t leave the ones we love behind. Even though we do have some rope which we could tie around his waist and pull him up after we get to the top, we just don’t want to leave the danger that we know, to face something we don’t know.
Jesus has gone on ahead and prepared a place for us. He told us that. All we have to do is believe. We have to have faith and sometimes we have to have courage. I believe Elizabeth had both. In life she asked that if anything ever happened to her, she wanted to be an organ donor. Today seven people will live as a result of her generosity. Seven people. What a wonderful legacy that is.
Here at St. Bernadette, our own XXX is alive today because a young person from the Kansas City area was an organ donor. His life is a testimony to the good that can come, even from a tragedy. If you haven’t already, today would be a good day to consider being an organ donor yourself.
Jesus didn’t heal everybody. Sometimes there is no physical healing. But, as John says, we can be victorious over this world and spend eternity in paradise, if we believe.
posted by Mike at 10:33 PM
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