When I graduated from law school more than 20 years ago, Uncle Bob gave me this pen – a Montblanc Meisterstück fountain pen. Many would agree that Montblanc makes some of the finest pens in the world and that the Meisterstück fountain pen is Montblanc’s finest pen. This pen speaks volumes to me of the kind of person Uncle Bob was: he appreciated the fine things of life, and he was very generous and loving. Uncle Bob bore the hallmarks of a man of faith: he lived loved, he loved living, and he lived loving. That’s what our Gospel passage and Uncle Bob’s example call us to do, too.
We heard in our Gospel that whoever hears God’s word and believes in him “has passed from death to life.” (John 5: 24) “The passage from death to life is not a future promise; it happens now.”[1] God’s gift of eternal life isn't dangling somewhere out of arm’s reach to give us hope for a better life after this one. It’s available to us right now. “’Eternal life’ is life itself, real life, which can also be lived in the present age and is no longer challenged by physical death.”[2] God sent his only Son to conquer death so that we can live life to its fullest now. God wants us to enjoy his creation; he wants us to love living. But to do that, we have to free ourselves from the chains of death by believing in the Resurrection and the Life. We have to live knowing that we’re loved by God. We have to live loved.
Believing isn't always easy. Sickness, death, broken relationships, financial troubles, you name it, this life is full of serious problems that challenge our belief in an all-loving God. I have no answer for why a faith-filled man like Uncle Bob would suffer from Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. But “[f]aith is like a bright ray of sunlight. It enables us to see God in all things as well as all things in God.”[3] As our first reading from Revelation tells us, “God’s dwelling is with the human race.” (Revelation 21:3) Faith in God and his promise of eternal life opens our eyes to God’s loving presence in every aspect of our lives. Faith gives strength to the weary, comfort to the ill, courage to the dying and solace to the mourning. Saint Paul said it perfectly in his letter to the Romans: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31b) With God in our lives, we have nothing to fear. We have every reason to live and to enjoy all of the wonderful things in life. We have every reason to love living, because we’re living loved.
How do we know when we’re living loved? We love living, and we live loving. (I’ll give you a moment to let you catch up with all of those “Ls”). Love is dynamic, not static. It has to move. So when we open ourselves to receive God’s love through faith, we can’t hold it in; we have to share it. Faith is “an acceptance of God’s grace and a willingness to let that grace flow through us to others.”[4] So people of faith, people who live loved, live loving. Uncle Bob was a man of faith. He lived loved, he loved living, and he lived loving.
Uncle Bob lived loved as a faithful Catholic – attending Mass regularly, serving as an usher at several parishes and, later in life, helping out at BINGO. During my last visit with Uncle Bob, he spoke beautifully about his Catholic faith to a minister who dropped by for a visit. When she asked whether his illness and prognosis challenged his faith in God, he looked at her incredulously and said, “No, I know that I’m safe in God’s hands. That’s what I believe.” Then when the minister told him that she was Lutheran he said, “Get out!” So much for ecumenical dialogue. Nonetheless, Uncle Bob lived loved.
Uncle Bob loved living. He loved the Giants and the Yankees, jazz and big band music. He loved the Jersey shore, where he taught his kids to body surf, and he loved sharing life’s little treasures with his family. After regaling me with stories about bullfights in Panama and chatting up music greats like Anita O’Day and Joni James at the bar at the Meadowbrook, Uncle Bob said, “Michael, there’s a lot of good stuff going on in life. You just have to open your eyes a little bit.” Uncle Bob loved living.
Uncle Bob lived loving. He loved animals – volunteering as a dolphin soother and fish counter at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida and never passing up the opportunity to throw a ball for a dog. We Meyers were convinced that our dog Molly would die of a heart attack because Uncle Bob wouldn't quit throwing, and Molly wouldn't quit retrieving. He loved his country, singing the National Anthem with his hand over his heart no matter where it was played.
But most of all, most of all, Uncle Bob loved his family. Every year on Memorial Day Uncle Bob paid his respects at Grandpa’s grave and then stopped by to visit Aunt Louise and Uncle Lou. He held his mother’s hand on the day she died. He loved golfing with his brothers and teasing his sisters. He made it a tradition on Christmas Eve to attend the Vigil Mass and then treat his family to a fine meal at a great restaurant. He endured the long commute from New York to make his son’s baseball game, and danced the hula at a Disney World luau to make his children laugh. He proudly bragged about his children, his grandchildren, his step-grandchildren and his Roly Poly. And he gave his Godson one of the finest pens in the world – a Montblanc Meisterstück fountain pen. Uncle Bob lived loving.
As Uncle Bob’s cancer progressed, Susan shared how striking it was to her that the sicker and weaker he became, the more often he said, “I am the luckiest man in the world; I have a loving family.” That’s the testimony of a man of faith, a man who lived loved, who loved living, and who lived loving. Those are the words of the man we love so much that we faithfully commend his spirit into God’s hands, where we believe that he will live loved forever.
Readings: Revelation 21: 1-5a, 6b-7; Psalm 23; Romans 8: 31b-35, 37-39; John 5: 24-29
We heard in our Gospel that whoever hears God’s word and believes in him “has passed from death to life.” (John 5: 24) “The passage from death to life is not a future promise; it happens now.”[1] God’s gift of eternal life isn't dangling somewhere out of arm’s reach to give us hope for a better life after this one. It’s available to us right now. “’Eternal life’ is life itself, real life, which can also be lived in the present age and is no longer challenged by physical death.”[2] God sent his only Son to conquer death so that we can live life to its fullest now. God wants us to enjoy his creation; he wants us to love living. But to do that, we have to free ourselves from the chains of death by believing in the Resurrection and the Life. We have to live knowing that we’re loved by God. We have to live loved.
Believing isn't always easy. Sickness, death, broken relationships, financial troubles, you name it, this life is full of serious problems that challenge our belief in an all-loving God. I have no answer for why a faith-filled man like Uncle Bob would suffer from Alzheimer’s disease and cancer. But “[f]aith is like a bright ray of sunlight. It enables us to see God in all things as well as all things in God.”[3] As our first reading from Revelation tells us, “God’s dwelling is with the human race.” (Revelation 21:3) Faith in God and his promise of eternal life opens our eyes to God’s loving presence in every aspect of our lives. Faith gives strength to the weary, comfort to the ill, courage to the dying and solace to the mourning. Saint Paul said it perfectly in his letter to the Romans: “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31b) With God in our lives, we have nothing to fear. We have every reason to live and to enjoy all of the wonderful things in life. We have every reason to love living, because we’re living loved.
How do we know when we’re living loved? We love living, and we live loving. (I’ll give you a moment to let you catch up with all of those “Ls”). Love is dynamic, not static. It has to move. So when we open ourselves to receive God’s love through faith, we can’t hold it in; we have to share it. Faith is “an acceptance of God’s grace and a willingness to let that grace flow through us to others.”[4] So people of faith, people who live loved, live loving. Uncle Bob was a man of faith. He lived loved, he loved living, and he lived loving.
Uncle Bob lived loved as a faithful Catholic – attending Mass regularly, serving as an usher at several parishes and, later in life, helping out at BINGO. During my last visit with Uncle Bob, he spoke beautifully about his Catholic faith to a minister who dropped by for a visit. When she asked whether his illness and prognosis challenged his faith in God, he looked at her incredulously and said, “No, I know that I’m safe in God’s hands. That’s what I believe.” Then when the minister told him that she was Lutheran he said, “Get out!” So much for ecumenical dialogue. Nonetheless, Uncle Bob lived loved.
Uncle Bob loved living. He loved the Giants and the Yankees, jazz and big band music. He loved the Jersey shore, where he taught his kids to body surf, and he loved sharing life’s little treasures with his family. After regaling me with stories about bullfights in Panama and chatting up music greats like Anita O’Day and Joni James at the bar at the Meadowbrook, Uncle Bob said, “Michael, there’s a lot of good stuff going on in life. You just have to open your eyes a little bit.” Uncle Bob loved living.
Uncle Bob lived loving. He loved animals – volunteering as a dolphin soother and fish counter at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida and never passing up the opportunity to throw a ball for a dog. We Meyers were convinced that our dog Molly would die of a heart attack because Uncle Bob wouldn't quit throwing, and Molly wouldn't quit retrieving. He loved his country, singing the National Anthem with his hand over his heart no matter where it was played.
But most of all, most of all, Uncle Bob loved his family. Every year on Memorial Day Uncle Bob paid his respects at Grandpa’s grave and then stopped by to visit Aunt Louise and Uncle Lou. He held his mother’s hand on the day she died. He loved golfing with his brothers and teasing his sisters. He made it a tradition on Christmas Eve to attend the Vigil Mass and then treat his family to a fine meal at a great restaurant. He endured the long commute from New York to make his son’s baseball game, and danced the hula at a Disney World luau to make his children laugh. He proudly bragged about his children, his grandchildren, his step-grandchildren and his Roly Poly. And he gave his Godson one of the finest pens in the world – a Montblanc Meisterstück fountain pen. Uncle Bob lived loving.
As Uncle Bob’s cancer progressed, Susan shared how striking it was to her that the sicker and weaker he became, the more often he said, “I am the luckiest man in the world; I have a loving family.” That’s the testimony of a man of faith, a man who lived loved, who loved living, and who lived loving. Those are the words of the man we love so much that we faithfully commend his spirit into God’s hands, where we believe that he will live loved forever.
Readings: Revelation 21: 1-5a, 6b-7; Psalm 23; Romans 8: 31b-35, 37-39; John 5: 24-29
[1]
Francis J. Maloney, “The Gospel of John,” Sacra
Pagina, vol. IV, Daniel J. Harrington, ed. (Collegeville, Liturgical Press 1998)
at 179.
[2]
Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth –
Holy Week: From the Entrance into
Jerusalem to the Resurrection (San Francisco, Ignatius Press, 2011) at 83.
[3]
Saint Francis de Sales.
[4]
Robert Barron, “Into the Garden,” Lent
Reflections with Father Robert Barron, Day 2 (February 19, 2015).
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