Life is to be treasured

I AM writing this little reflection on a rainy afternoon with the deaths of three very different people in my mind and heart. Today and during the coming days it will be my privilege to be with their families as they come to terms with what is happening.

For one family it is the death, for which there was some warning, of a new born baby; for a second the release from pain and suffering of an old man – husband, father, grand and great-grandfather; for a third family the untimely and sudden death of a wife and mother in the prime of life.

In the midst of shock, tears, heartbreak emptiness… we will lay their bodies to rest. We will dig deep into our own hearts trying to understand the mystery that is death.

I find some worthwhile food for thought in the patterns of nature all around us. Death, the dying of the seed, has to take place if there is to be new life. Every new plant, new flower, new grain of wheat or barley follows on from the death of its predecessor; there is no other way.

I’m also very mindful, in the face of every death, that life is a gift! Too easily we take life for granted; we get close to presuming that life is our right. It is in fact a gift from the God of life to be treasured, lived out fully each day and offered wholeheartedly to others.

The richest and most meaningful of all insights into the meaning of life and death will come from our thoughtful participation in the annual experience of what has traditionally been called Holy Week: from Sunday April 13 to Sunday, April 20th!

We are invited to reflect on and take to ourselves the final days of the life of Jesus.

He courageously faces death by going to Jerusalem where they are plotting to kill him

He offers friendship and re-assurance to his friends; his Spirit will continue to inspire them

He suffers terribly, feels abandoned, but continues to embrace the final journey He dies And the fulfilment of it all is not darkness but Resurrection!