At the 11th hour on the 11th day in the 11th month in 1918, WWI ended. That date each year became Veterans Day. On November 11 we honor US military veterans: more than 41 million men and women over the course of the nation's history. I invite our veterans here to stand for our applause. Thank you for your service to our country.
More and more people are depending on high tech hearing aids. I heard about a ninety-year old grandfather, almost deaf, who without telling his family bought these hearing aids; they worked perfectly. When he went back for a check-up, the audiologist said, “I bet your family was happy when they discovered you can hear so well.” The man replied,” I haven’t told them yet. I listen to what they’re saying about me. I’ve already changed my will three times.” Moral of the story: be careful what you say, even if you think no one hears.
So what does the word of God say to us? In today’s passage from the Book of Wisdom, the author personified wisdom as a woman; and wisdom is one with God. The author challenges us to seek true wisdom: a right relationship with God and with our fellow human beings. The living Christ, for the Christian, is the source of all wisdom.
Saint Paul in his letter to the Christian community at Thessaloniki in Greece speaks about the triumphant return of Jesus at the end-time. Paul writes that the resurrection of Jesus is the guarantee of our own resurrection. Yes, good ultimately will triumph with the transformation of our universe into a new heaven and a new earth.
In the Gospel, Jesus tells a story about us preparing to meet God in the mystery of death. The “oil” is our good works; the “absence of oil,” the lack of good works. Seize every opportunity to do good now. Life is short; don’t “let time run out.” “Be prepared” is an everyday Christian motto.
So are we ready to meet God? If not today, when. We know that there are some things we can do to delay death. We can exercise and eat the right foods. We can stop smoking, and so on. But there’s a basic truth: there’s an appointed time for everything, a time to be born and a time to die.
As people of faith, we know that the God who gave us life will transform our earthly self in death into a new glorious heavenly self. The question is, what do we have to do today to be ready?
New medical technologies are able to lengthen our years. But the underlying question is, “Will life be worth living?” To many of us, increased lifespan is of little value unless we can live a life of quality.
A surgeon, Atul Gawande, wrote a bestseller titled Being Mortal. It's a narrative about the care and treatment of the elderly and the dying. The surgeon questions whether employing technologies at the expense of a quality life is the right thing to do. The question becomes when to “let go,” when to stop treatments that likely don’t work. Gawande asks, why submit the dying to a full panoply of procedures only to see them merely exist in institutions and lose their independence.
After all, birth and death are both integral to life. Gawande finds most people appreciate being involved in living and dying as well as possible.
God has created us for one purpose: to live in a relationship with the triune God forever. Saint Augustine wrote, “God, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Yes, no matter who we are or what we do, that’s our purpose. That's what makes life worth living.
Many people try to find meaning in money, pleasure, fame. But these pursuits turn up empty handed. For Saint Paul, a life worth living is knowing Jesus Christ “in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom.” Paul’s desire was for Christ to be magnified in his body, “whether by life or by death.”
Though Paul longed to be with Christ, he wanted to stay alive because that meant “fruitful labor.” Paul seized every opportunity to spread the gospel, the good news. So too should we.
We are called to be missionary disciples of Jesus, to make our lives worth living especially by living the gospel with courage.
Yes, many times, the first question we have to ask ourselves is, “What is the right thing to do?” And just do it.
Then our “lamps” will be filled with the oil of good works so that God will welcome us in the mystery of our death into his heavenly banquet forever.
