On the last Saturday of July I received a card from the wife of a man I have known for 61 years. After four and half years of suffering from stage four colon cancer he passed. Joe, not his real name, was one of my oldest friends and we considered each other as brothers because neither of us had siblings.
We met in our junior year of high school. I don’t remember what drew us together, but it is something only children who have to fend for themselves recognize in someone else like them. It was almost instantaneous that we clicked.
What made it even more interesting is that he was of the Jewish faith and I a practicing Catholic. We both believed in God but from different aspects. His was more of I know there is a God who I can go to when I want, but I don’t need to follow a particular regimen. I on the other hand was involved having just left the minor seminary to become a priest but not quite sure of where my path was taking me.
For the next six years we seemed inseparable in that we spent a lot of time together both at school and otherwise. Joe pursued a law career specializing in medical malpractice and I worked as a writer for a newspaper, in public relations and advertising before opening practices in securities and insurance.
As time progressed we got married, raised a family and eventually moved from Chicago; me to California and he to Florida. Our relationship went from being together a lot to planned visits in Chicago or he would see me when he had to take a deposition in California. Everything else was either telephone calls or e-mails.
It was soon after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 that our relationship added more of a religious tone than in the past. Joe had divorced and his three children became estranged from him prior to this historical event. He wasn’t quite sure about God in his life. As he watched the events of this disaster, he began to feel the pain of his personal losses as well as to the people who died and the families left behind. For the last few years he was talking to a Christian lady about Jesus. Joe began to pray and decided to accept Jesus into his life that night. By doing so, it changed his life dramatically for the next 21 years until he passed.
He became a Christian, married a Christian woman and became a member of the Episcopalian Church in which he taught Bible study, served as a sacristan and represented the faith as a chancellor in both their canon and secular law areas. He also studied to be a deacon during that time prior to the cancer, but had to withdraw when treatments began.
So what does this true story about a relationship of two males of different faiths who became friends and brothers to one another have to do with our readings and Gospel today?
In the first reading from the Book of Wisdom, it addresses the Jewish community of Alexandria at the turn of the BC and AD eras. The area was predominantly controlled by a Greek culture that seemed more relevant to the Jews than their covenant-based culture and beliefs. These verses remind the Jewish population that their God is the one who delivered them from slavery in Egypt. They decided to reject the world’s viewpoint and accept their God with His promise of salvation.
The Letter to the Hebrews defines what faith is and cites examples of Abraham’s belief that God has the answers to all we need if we patiently persevere in faith to receive God’s promises.
Finally, in St. Luke’s Gospel, Jesus presents several ideas to be
active disciples of Him. Do not fear
because God provides for all their needs.
Prepare one to do God’s will by removing negative thoughts and
excuses. Reject thoughts, words and
actions about accepting the self-centered viewpoint of wealth, fame and power
that the world preaches because they lack faith in God and His ways.
Many of us have suffered many setbacks in our life that cause us to question God’s methods. That’s what Joe did. He viewed suffering as a norm for him and didn’t believe there was anything better. When 9/11 happened, he began to realize that if he didn’t take an active role in accepting God into his heart, soul, mind and strength he couldn’t get past the disappointments of the life he felt.
As baptized Catholics we promise to love God and all He has created as Jesus loves us. If we don’t, we will end up like the servant who didn’t prepare and suffered a severe beating. We know better and need to become leaders who are active in living a life that follows the teachings of Jesus. But, let us not wait until a catastrophic event happens to heed Jesus words:
“Much will be required of the person entrusted with much, and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”
Start now so when it is time for us to pass on to eternal life, those left behind will see what happened and will want to emulate what we did. That’s why faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.
Reading 1: Wisdom 18: 6-9
Reading 2: Hebrews 11: 1-2, 8-12
Gospel: Luke 12: 32-48
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