Deacon Mike Meyer / Saturday, September 7, 2024 / Categories: Blog, Homilies Happy Faith When I asked my mother what came to mind when she thought of Uncle Len, she immediately said, “He was always happy.” Now, Leonard, Jim, and Jill may disagree with the word “always” since they likely witnessed a few unhappy moments that they undoubtedly caused. I think we can agree, though, that Uncle Len was a happy guy. He always had a joke or a gag, and he loved embellishing stories in ways that made him look amazing – like when he told Aunt Joan on a date before they married that the scar on his hand came from fighting off a bayonet attack in Korea rather than from the clothes wringer on the washer in his parents’ basement. If you look at Uncle Len’s life, though, he had plenty of reasons not to be so happy. He was born prematurely, and few thought he would survive; one of his jobs in the army was to clear the dead and wounded from the battlefields in Korea; and he lost his wife and daughter much too early. So why was Uncle Len so happy? Our readings explain. This morning’s readings remind us of the happiest news known to humankind, the Good News, as we call it: through his Passion, Death, and Resurrection, Jesus reconciled humanity to God and opened the gates of heaven to all. As we heard in our first reading, “the souls of the just are in the hand of God . . ., and they are at peace.” In our second reading, Saint Paul tells us that “every sorrow in life can be softened by the joyful hope that the dead will live again.”[1] We see this joyful hope in action in our Gospel, when the encounter with Jesus on the road to Emmaus moved the two disciples from downtrodden confusion to irrepressible joy. Their hearts were burning within them. What gives us this joyful hope? What made the disciples’ hearts burn within them? Faith! Faith is the God-given virtue that helps us believe all that God has revealed to us and that God keeps his promises. It’s “a quiet confidence and joy that enables [us] to feel at home in the universe, and to find meaning in the world and in [our lives no matter what our circumstance may be]. Men and women of this kind of faith face catastrophe or confusion, affluence or sorrow, unperturbed. [They] face opportunity with conviction and drive, and face others with self-forgetting charity.”[2] Why? Because they trust that God will deliver on his promise of a life of eternal peace and happiness with him forever. Their faith helps them experience right now the joyful hope that God will unite us with himself and our loved ones at the end of time. Yes, sorrow brings us together today, but in this Mass, faith transforms our grief into praise and thanksgiving for God’s great gift of the Resurrection. Why was Uncle Len so happy? He had faith. Uncle Len loved God. He was a devoted churchgoer who hated to miss Mass. When he couldn’t drive after he had his kidney removed, Uncle Len walked to church rather than miss Mass. Even after dementia had stolen most of his memories, I noticed that he was still able to recite the prayers and responses at Lynn’s funeral. Mass Uncle Len’s faith was most evident in his love of neighbor and all of us. He lived a selfless life of service to others. When Jill had a flat tire and called him for a ride home from work, she found Uncle Len in the parking lot changing her tire. Jill obviously learned something about selfless service from her Dad, and we are all profoundly grateful for the steadfast, self-sacrificing care you gave Uncle Len throughout his illness. You were a blessing to him, and you are a blessing to us. Uncle Len especially experienced and expressed his faith through music, teaching music to children, including a few nieces and nephews, for 43 years. Helping Bobby master sixteenth notes most certainly counts as a corporal work of mercy! Not surprisingly, several former students took the time to leave their condolences on Uncle Len’s obituary page, gratefully acknowledging that Uncle Len made sure he highlighted every student during the school year and gave everyone a chance to succeed. As the conductor Leopold Stokowski said, “Music makes us feel that the heavens open and a divine voice calls. Something in our souls responds and understands.” Uncle Len heard the divine voice call; he understood, and he responded in faith. Now, I can’t skip over the fact that the past several years were not very happy for Uncle Len, as his memory faded and fear and frustration set in. We could all raise our fists and rage at the heavens for allowing his suffering to continue for so long. Perhaps we did from time to time (and that’s ok). But whether we realize it or not, faith carried Uncle Len and us through it, and faith helps us carry on today. Faith assures us that Uncle Len rests in the warm embrace of our loving God, reunited with all he loved, especially Aunt Joan, Lynn, Grandma and Grandpa, Uncle Joe, and Uncle Bob. Faith offers us the joyful consolation that Uncle Len’s suffering has ended, his health, humor, and memory have been restored, and now he truly is always happy. Readings: Wisdom 3:1-9; Thessalonians 4:13-18; Luke 24: 13-16, 28-35 [1] Scott Hahm and Curtis Mitch, eds., The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010), 376. [2] Charles Hefling, Why Doctrines, 2nd ed. (Chestnut Hill, MA: The Lonergan Institute, 2000) at 20. Feeding the Spirit It’s No Secret Print 539 Please login or register to post comments.