Sunday Homily 7-24-11, 17th Ordinary Time
Homily
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross has studied death and dying probably as much as anyone. She was a Swiss doctor, and I remember many year ago attending one of her seminars on the subject in Sacramento CA. During the session she showed a very brief film, which I will always remember. She was discussing how we grieve, and the film showed a herd of elephants gathered around an elephant that had just died. The elephants had formed a circle and they each had their trunk resting on the dead elephant. They were grieving. Today, we too are really not that different. One of our community, Ray Williams, has died. Our faith at a time like this offers us hope, hope that there is a life beyond this one, a place where “every tear will be wiped away”, a place where we will all meet again. That is our faith, and it keeps us going at a time like this.
But a death is also a time for each one of us to reflect on our own mortality! Its one of those things where you can run but you can’t hide from!! And today I would like us to focus on our own lives. How should we be living? Ray Williams was a man I knew only slightly. For a long time I would meet him when I went around with the sacrament of the sick during our mass. He stood back there and quietly received the sacrament. I met him once at his home when Gayle and I brought communion to him. But last Tuesday I learned a great deal more about him and would like to hold him up as an example of someone who seemed to live out his faith in everyday quietness. During the eulogies two people stood up and shared their memories of Ray. One was an elderly gentleman from Taiwan whom Ray had gotten to know through a Plano city project to twin Plano with a city in Taiwan. But it was what the man said which will stay with me for a while. I don’t know how long he has been living in the US but he said that Ray was the first American home he had ever been invited into. Ray lived hospitality! The second person was a young Mexican man who told us how Ray had made such a huge difference in his life and in the lives of many poor Mexican kids by coaching them in various soccer leagues. Some of these young kids went on the win soccer scholarships to college. Ray made a difference in these kids’ lives.
During this time when we mourn Ray, let’s also take his example of living life to it’s fullest by seeing God in those around him. St. Irenaeus is reported to have said, “the glory of God is man fully alive”. From listening to the different people share their memories about Ray Williams it is no stretch to say that Ray was one of those people. Our community is a little less by his absence; heaven is a bit better by his presence.
Sorry, no pictures this week.