Tag Archives: Death

October 22, 2014

The Feast of All Souls

By Fr. Andrew Ricci

cemetery

Study:  Recall close family and friends who have died.  Reflect on how they blessed your life.

Pray:  Remember those who are grieving the loss of loved ones in your prayers.

Serve:  Is there an act of kindness you can to for someone grieving?  How can your support help them face the reality of death and the hope of the resurrection?

Readings for the Feast of All Souls

I would like to explain how we get this feast on the weekend. Normally, the feast of All Saints is a Holy Day of Obligation in the Church. However, when a Holy Day falls on a Saturday or a Monday it is “suppressed” so that the Sunday mass does not lose its importance. And when a feast (like All Souls) actually falls on a Sunday – then that is often the feast whose prayers and readings are used.

This is why I went to seminary for a decade….!

There are a number of possible readings to choose from for this feast. They should sound familiar; indeed, for anyone who frequently attends funerals they will echo with past memories.

The Feast of All Souls is a celebration where the whole Church remembers all who have died. On this day we offer prayers, hear readings, and recall the memories of our beloved dead.

Yet the way we do this is in the example and image of Jesus Christ. Think of Holy Week: we celebrate Good Friday (the day He died) and Easter Sunday (the day He rose).

During those days we recall the suffering and pain of Jesus in His last hours on earth. We recite the passion, process the Cross, and dwell upon His sorrow and anguish. Yet it also means that we celebrate with joy His resurrection from the tomb. We fill the church with flowers, sing alleluias, and rejoice that His death led to new life.

What’s true for Jesus is true for us. When we remember our beloved dead we must remember both our grief (because of death) and our hope (because of eternal life). As we offer our prayers this weekend, we then not only admit our sorrow at the loss of a loved one, but we cling to our belief that we will one day be together with the Lord in Heaven.

Therefore, to be genuine people of faith we both acknowledge the pain of death and affirm the hope of eternity. In this way we do not overly focus on one or the other, but recognize that both are a part of our lives as disciples of Christ here on Earth.

On this feast we remember our beloved dead. We hold fast in faith that their passing is not the end, but the beginning of a new life with Christ in Heaven. In this feast we are thus also reminded that we, too, will one day make this journey. May we trust that as others have traveled from death to life, we will follow in the Lord’s path as well.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , | posted in Feasts & Solemnities

April 12, 2014

Holy Week

By Fr. Andrew Ricci

Holy Week

Study:  Recall a time in your life when you experienced death and new life.  Where did you find the strength?  Who helped you through this time?

Pray:  Spend some time reflecting on the death and resurrection of Jesus this week.  Read Mark 14-16; Matthew 26-28; Luke 22-24; and John 18-21.  Take in as many prayer opportunities as possible in your parish.

Serve:  Who in your life is dealing with life and death issues right now?  How might you be present to them to offer help, comfort, or strength?

Holy Week audio retreats from the US Bishops

We enter into the heart of the Christian mystery: Holy Week offers us a time to pause, reflect, and pray as the Church ponders on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This mystery, often called the Paschal Mystery, recalls us to the saving work of the Lord.  His death frees of from the burdens of sin and death, and his resurrection opens for us the path to eternal life.  This mystery is profoundly experienced over the Triduum – the 3 Great Days:

  • Holy Thursday – the Mass of the Lord’s Supper
  • Good Friday – the Passion of the Christ
  • Easter (Vigil/Day) – the Resurrection of the Lord

On Holy Thursday we find ourselves in Jerusalem, eating with the disciples at the Lord’s Supper and feeling awkward as he washes their feet – wondering how we would react if he did that for us.  We might identify with Peter or Judas – especially when we consider the times we have willingly betrayed or turned our back on the Lord.

On Good Friday we experience the physical pain, emotional abandonment, and personal humiliation on the path to Calvary (also called Golgotha or Skull Place) and look on with horror at the cruel death of Jesus.  We might also consider the times we have helped others – as Simon did when he was forced to carry the Cross of Christ.    And then we stand in profound sorrow with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, helpless as the innocent suffer injustice.

On Easter we wait in vigil and rise early in the morning with Mary Magdalen, only to find to our wonder and joy that the tomb is empty:  Christ is alive!  Our world, like that of the apostles, is changed forever as we experience new hope and life.

A word to the wise – we get out of Holy Week what we put into it.  Here are some simple ways for an incredible experience.

  • Make church services a top priority – Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter (Vigil or Day).
  • Take time to read and reflect on the scriptures (see at the top under “Pray”).
  • Make Holy Thursday an opportunity to offer a special act of service or kindness to another.
  • Make Good Friday fasting extra special with a gift to a particular charity that helps the poor.
  • Make Easter a time of gratitude – take a quiet moment to count our blessings and thank the Lord.
  • Find some time throughout this week to tell the people in our lives how much we love them.

May this be a time for all of us to grow closer to the Lord and one another.

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Lent

April 8, 2014

Palm Sunday – The Cross

By Fr. Andrew Ricci

The Face of Christ

Study:  Reflect on a time you experienced weakness and suffering.  Where did you find the strength to continue?

Pray:  Gaze upon a crucifix and offer to Christ any struggles you are facing right now.  Bring the needs of your loved ones to the foot of the Cross as well.

Serve:  Is there someone in your life who is carrying a heavy cross right now?  How can you offer comfort and assistance?

Palm Sunday Readings (with Year A reading for the Procession with Palms)

Fr. Andrew’s Homily Podcast

How many times throughout our lives have we made the sign of the Cross?  Stop and think:  at Mass; meal prayers; morning & evening prayers; special gatherings; and moments of blessing and grace.  This simple action, which we teach to children at an early age, invokes a connection with the passion of Jesus.

We adorn our homes with the Cross.  A crucifix is a common gift to a new home; crosses are placed in bedrooms and common areas as a reminder that Jesus is the source of our help and strength.

We adorn ourselves with the Cross as well:  a crucifix on a chain; a cross in our pocket; earrings; rings; bracelets; and all the extra cards, bookmarks, figurines, and miscellaneous items that remind us that Jesus died on a Cross.

The passion we read every year on this day focuses our attention on the central mystery of our faith.  Out of love for us God sent His Son, Jesus, who gave his life on the Cross that we might have eternal life.  Through his suffering and death, we recognize that God has made a pathway possible that we might all journey through this life to the gates of Heaven.

The Cross teaches us many lessons:

  • Life is difficult, and at times painful
  • Weakness and sin are part of our experience
  • God identifies with our pain
  • God dies that we might have life

At the core of our teaching the Cross stands as the testament of God’s love for us.  Yet the Cross appears to be an embarrassment – after all, why would God (all powerful, all knowing, supreme) choose to be humiliated?  Does that not mean that God is weak?  Why could God not take away our sins in a way that showed majesty and splendor?

In reality, the weakness revealed in the Cross uncovers our frailty, not God’s.  Jesus endured the Cross because of our broken, wounded nature.  He carried the Cross because we were unable to – as St. Paul writes “The wages of sin is death” in Romans 6:23 – and he bore the suffering, pain, and grief that are the natural result of our sinfulness.  God is not weak, rather God takes on our weakness so that we can be made whole.

The Cross proclaims the truth that God meets us where we are in life.  In our weakness, in our humiliation, in our low moments of doubt and sin God comes to us.  Jesus, like us in every way but sin, understands our pain because through his Cross he shares in the suffering of the world.  He knows us, loves us, and saves us through his Cross.

Every time we make the sign of the Cross may we recall what the Lord endured for us.  Through the Cross we discover our strength as we trust in God’s love and  seek to follow that love as we journey through this life toward the world to come.

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you.  Because by your Holy Cross you have redeemed the world!

Leave a comment   |  tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | posted in Lent, Podcast

June 4, 2013

10th Sunday of the Year – Arise!

By Fr. Andrew Ricci

Station - Jesus in the Tomb

Study:  Reflect on a time of grief and loss in your life.  Where did you find support and strength?

Pray:  Pause to consider those who are going through grief and hold them up in your daily prayers.

Serve:  Do you know someone who is struggling with grief right now?  Perhaps a visit or an act of kindness could make the day a little brighter.

Last October I was traveling through the Holy Land and I passed through the village where Jesus performed the miracle that is recounted in the Gospel today.  I find it easy to imagine the situation: a group of people walking in procession with a widow as  they carry her dead son out of the city.  There is grief, terrible loss, and the sense that the entire community is mourning with this woman.

Then an encounter with Jesus.  First he has pity, then he offers consolation, then a single word: arise!

In a moment everything changes.  The Lord gives the man back to his mother, the procession is filled with fear and wonder, and God is praised.

We all know that death is a part of life.  Like the seasons of the year, there are times for birth, growth, harvest, and death.  Yet there are also times when death happens outside this cycle – in moments of tragedy, unforeseen illness, and accident – and our lives are turned upside down in a heartbeat.

In these moments when we are filled with questions, doubts, and uncertainty.  And like the widow in today’s Gospel we can invite the Lord to draw near.  The same pity, consolation, and hope is ours – Christ meets us in our weakness and with tender compassion he touches our hearts.

His love is empowered through the victory of his death and resurrection.  His sacrifice on the Cross opens the gates of Heaven for us.  For at the hour of our death we long to look upon Jesus who will say “Arise!” to us and welcome us to eternal life.

Perhaps you are dealing with grief in your life, or perhaps you are walking with someone in the midst of grief.  The Gospel today gives us an opportunity to face death with the conviction of faith – this is not the end, but a new beginning with the Lord.  May the pity, consolation, and mercy of Jesus help us to be tender with others in their grief, and may it help us to face the hour of our own death with trust in the Lord’s love.

1 Comment   |  tags: , , , , , | posted in Ordinary Time