Set your heart on what is above

NOTE:  Before she died, my sister-in-law asked that I preach her funeral homily.  She lived for 11 years with skin cancer and finally succumbed to it at the end.  I had the privilege of walking with her on her journey to eternal life - it was a joy and an honor to see her grow in holiness and love of God.   

Wisdom 3:1-6,9; Psalm 131, Colossians 3:1-4, John 16:16,18-22

San Damiano CrucifixFor her funeral card Joni chose to use the San Damiano Crucifix, which is a Baptismal Crucifix.  As Christians we show Christ Crucified as the witness of God’s love to the world - of the cross and our obligation as Christian’s to imitate Christ.  If you look closely at the crucifix you will see that there are layers that symbolize the Christian Journey, the outermost layer is ringed with seashells that is symbolic of Baptism, then the next layer in is red - for the passion of our Lord, and the next layer in is black - for the death that we all must enter, and finally, to the innermost layer - which is gold that is symbolic of the heavenly kingdom.

It will be but the blink of an eyeJoni found out that she was in the final stages of her cancer at the end of March.  It took her a couple of days to accept the news that the doctors gave to her, and then she let us know and people began to visit to say their goodbyes and to prepare themselves for her death.  When Mark, Dominic, Sebastian and I said our goodbyes to Joni she hinted at the Gospel today and said that she was looking forward to our reunion after the blink of an eye. 

Pain overlaid with joy - a glimpse of the resurrectionPeople react to the news of death differently.  Joni spent the last month saying goodbye to many of us gathered here today.  It was difficult for her - exhausting at times.  Joni told me “I am in pain, but my life has been infused with joy - the joy that I am experiencing by living in the love of so many people.  I know that this is nothing compared to what awaits me.”  

The suffering of childbirth leads to a greater joyIn the Gospel today Jesus is speaking to the disciples about the pain that they are going to experience as they enter into his death.  The disciples really don’t understand what he is talking about - because they have yet to go through the suffering.  Christ compares the separation that we experience in death to that of childbirth.  To be sure there is pain and suffering - but the focus of childbirth is not on the suffering but on the gift of new life entering into the world.  

Suffering is the test of our faithThe First Reading provides deeper insight into the value of suffering.  The author of the book of Wisdom says “Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself. As gold in the furnace, he proved them, and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.’” While suffering is difficult and painful, it is not meaningless, it has deep spiritual value.  When we suffer we find that our faith is tested - what is true about our relationship with Christ is refined, and becomes more precious.  What is false is burned away.  In that way suffering purifies us as gold is purified in a crucible.  

Suffering is an invitation into intimacy with ChristAs Christians we hold up Christ crucified as the symbol of God’s love to the world.  When we choose to unite our suffering to Christ’s love we enter into a intimacy with Christ - and we learn how precious his death and resurrection truly is.  

Suffering makes us CompanionsIn the same way, as Christians we can benefit from suffering as a community, because the sadness and grief today is an invitation to enter into suffering together where we can discover a special bond of intimacy and closeness that comes from knowing the truth and reality of our faith.  When we suffer together we become companions on the journey - that is Men and Women who walk with one another, through suffering, by the sharing of the body and blood of Jesus Christ.  

Invitation to become a companion with ChristWhen we come to the Eucharist today I want to invite you to share your suffering with Him, because he knows how to be with those who suffer.  Offer to him your broken hearts, your sad moments, your grief - and let his love transform your tears into precious, fire-tried faith.

How do we judge a life? - by our encounter with GodTo the world suffering is pointless, empty and devoid of meaning.  Listen again to the book of Wisdom.  
“They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction”

How the world may look at Joni - filled with struggleThe world may look at Joni’s life and see a single mom who died of cancer at the age of 54.  Her life can be thought of as having been too short, or too hard, or filled with a lot of pain, struggle and suffering.  

How Christ sees Joni - she embraced the cross.When Christ looks at Joni’s life He sees a faithful daughter whose life was filled with love for Him because she embraced the cross.  She did not allow the wounds she suffered to define who she was rather she let God’s presence in her life define her identity.

Cancer - a Relational LeprosyOne way that Joni embraced the Cross was by being open to new friendships.  About four or five years ago Joni realized that she found that either she was shying away from new friendships or that others - when they discovered that she had cancer would avoid her as if she suffered from some kind of relational leprosy.  From this realization Joni made it a point to be open to new relationships, and so she did not let her cancer dominate her relationships.  She made it a point to define her life by living, and not by dying from cancer.  Her focus was on growing closer to God and sharing her relationship with God with those who were close to her.

What is my life focused on?This witness of Joni’s cause us to ask the question - Am I allowing myself to be defined by the cancers of 

• Am I infected with the cancers of sin, despair or depression?
• Am I focused on myself?
• My work?
• Do I seek pleasure, security or attention? 

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One way to respond to Joni’s death is to take one characteristic that she modeled to you and imitate her by incorporating it into your life.  Here are some of her gifts 

• She had a profound her witness to life,
• her love of music, 
• her love of scripture,
• her openness to relationship, 
• her desire to help those in despair
• or something else.

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Seek what is aboveThe second reading today provides us with a spiritual lens that can help us in our reflections.  St. Paul says“If then you were raised with Christ, seek what is above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Think of what is above, not of what is on earth.”

Imitate Joni as she imitated Christ
So take that trait of Joni’s and begin to incorporate it into your life.  In this way we make this scripture from St. Paul come alive in two ways.

Be rooted in your BaptismFirst, we begin to live out our baptism more fully - that is what Paul means when he starts “If then you were raised with Christ”  We are choosing to allow our lives to be defined by God and not by the world.  Seek what is above to prepare for our reunion
Second, when we put the Gospel into action by “seeking what is above” we become partners in the building of the Kingdom of God here on earth.  If we can do these two things then the journey will be easier for us because it will help us to remember the closing of the Gospel where Jesus says “You are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”