Let's Be Ready to Meet the Lord "Face to Face," the Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time–Year C

My Aunt +Mary Margaret Winterling Bergeron (d. August 10, 2000)

My Sisters and Brothers:  

  

Jesus warns us in today’s Gospel that we “must be prepared, for at an hour we do not expect, the Son of Man will come” (see Luke 12:40). While this passage actually challenges us to be ready for that moment when Jesus will “come again in Glory,” I believe it also teaches us something about how we ought to be ready for our own personal deaths, and those of others we know and love. Like the coming of Jesus in Glory, the passing-away of any one of us might occur today or tomorrow, and it might catch us by surprise. In both cases, we believe and hope we will see the Lord “face to face.”

When I contemplate the passing from this life to the next, I often think about the surprising death of my very dear Aunt Mary Margaret. She passed-away very suddenly and unexpectedly a few years ago (on August 10, 2000), when she was just fifty-two years old. I will never forget that late night phone call from my mom (my aunt's sister) informing me of the terrible news.  At the time of her death, I was living in Costa Rica, and so the long-distance-away I was from my home and family compounded my immediate angst and sorrow as I listened to my mom's distressed voice on that phone call.  In my heartache at that moment, I pleaded with God: “How’s it possible that a person who seemed to have good health, had just begun a promising new business venture, was a very loving mother and grandmother, and who was in the ‘prime of her life,’ could have been taken so suddenly?” My aunt’s unforeseen death caused tremendous grief for all who loved her, including me.

Most likely, all of us have had similar experiences when dealing with the unexpected deaths of friends and loved ones. Such moments can be very difficult, and sometimes they may even cause us to doubt our faith, but we would probably agree that it’s because of that very faith that we are given the strength not to lose hope, and to look beyond the darkness of such moments!

Jesus tells us that we “must be prepared.” With this in mind, isn’t it true we can be very consoled by our faith when we know our loved ones who have died were “ready to meet the Lord?” Death would even be more difficult to bear if we couldn’t be sure our loved ones were right with God before they departed us.

I know my Aunt Mary Margaret lived an exemplary Christian life; I have no doubt she was certainly ready to meet the Lord “face to face” when she passed from this life to the next. No doubt, you can think of your own deceased loved ones for whom you can have this same confidence. And it’s probably true for all of us that the passing-away of such people challenges us to do some self-reflection. We should then think about our readiness to embrace the Lord of Glory at a moment when we ourselves least expect it. In response to the Gospel, and as people of faith, we must always strive to be prepared!

Jesus tells us today: “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival” (see Luke 12:37a). And so, are we ready and waiting, and not distracted by the problems of the moment, or the temptations of this life? Do we live each moment of our Christian lives as those who are prepared to accept the Lord when he comes? Do we have confidence that when the Lord comes, he will greet us as his own and that he will lead us to the joys of eternal life? 

Let's encourage each other to be ready for the coming of Jesus in Glory! As he warns us to “be prepared” for that day, so let us also be ready for our own personal deaths, and those of our friends and loved ones. May we always keep our faith-based hope that when we pass from this life to the next, we will all enjoy the fullness of life and the Glory of God forever!

My friends, we don’t know if these things will occur today or tomorrow, and we may even find ourselves surprised when they happen, but let’s pray that each one of us will always be prepared and ready!  

And let's continue to pray for our loved ones who have passed from this life to the next.  May they find eternal rest and peace!  This I will always do for the repose of the soul of my dear Aunt +Mary Margaret, and for so many other family and friends who have died, but who have blessed me with their presence in my own life! 

Praise God!  Friar Timothy

 

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