Homily for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

“For Me, To Live Is Christ, And To Die Is Gain”

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Twenty-Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Church of St. Bridget of Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, September 24, 2023

No matter what we accomplish in this life, we are all haunted by death. No matter how much we achieve in life, what you are able to produce and acquire, we know it is all going to be swallowed up in our own death. This reality led some philosophers and others to say that “life is just absurd.” “Life is meaningless.” “What is the point?” “Death has the final say.” I tell you, the fear of death hangs over the whole of life. As a result, death is continuously used as a weapon by authoritarian governments and by corrupt people to keep people quiet, to suppress, subjugate and force people to comply to their whims and caprices. 

How can we overcome the fear of death? Experts on mental health will tell us to exercise, meditate, seek professional support, talk to a therapist, get therapy, consider medication, change your habits, and change your thoughts about death etc. Now these experts’ counsel can be helpful, but the one that grabs my imagination and attention is that of changing one’s thoughts about death.” As Christians, what can really help us to cultivate a thought pattern about death, physical death? The most important book— the Bible! How does Jesus describe his death? He speaks about it as the hour of his glory: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified” (John 12:23). What about the first great Christian theologian, St. Paul? In our first reading for today, he says, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:20). I tell you, those words are counterintuitive and counter-cultural. To us, death is always a loss. A terrible loss. A terrible thing that should be avoided if possible. Think of all the advancement in the areas of science and medicine. Think of the number of people on Youtube, on health magazines, on television and radio stations telling us what to eat and avoid. It’s all aimed at being healthy, staying alive the longest and thereby postponing death as far as possible. And there is nothing wrong with it. Don’t get me wrong. Please, eat healthy and live healthy. I try to live healthy myself. But at the depth, the core reason for all of these healthy talks is delaying this reality that frightens us all— death. But St. Paul is not frightened by death and he does not consider it a loss, a terrible thing, and an enemy. He considers it a gain, as something good. 

But how come St. Paul was not frightened by death? Because the unum necessarium, the one thing necessary for Paul is Christ Jesus. “As for me, to live is Christ,” he says. When people speak about a brilliant athlete, they say that football is his life. When a woman laments about her absentee husband, she might say “business is his life; making money is his life.” When a family complains about a lazy member, they might say something like “playing video games or drinking or watching sports is his life.” As for St. Paul, rather than say that football, or money-making is his life, he says that Christ is his life. “To live is Christ” means that his entire life, private and public, is hinged upon Christ and spins around Christ. Does it mean that a Christian cannot have other interests? Not at all! Be interested in sports, in entertainment, in politics, in social issues, in science, in finance, in marketing, in designing things, in innovation, in friendships, family, religion etc. but all of those interests should be governed by your relationship with Jesus. The Lord of life has to be the governing principle of all your other interests. No other interests should be allowed to compete with him or to rank above him. It is finally Jesus who determines how I relate with those and other goods of the world. But if, for instance, football is your life, it means that your life, your thinking and interest are governed by football. It means that your time, your discipline and every aspect of your life is hinged on or spins around football. 

St. Paul was not afraid of death and did not see death as a loss. Why? Because he knows that Jesus Christ, the center of his life, the governing principle of his life, the one thing necessary conquered death with his own death on the cross. He also knows that Jesus promised eternal life to those who believe in him: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live” (John 11:25). St. Paul is  convinced that since his entire life is hinged upon Christ and spins around Christ, his very death would lead to a complete union with the Lord. He believes that when death comes, the Redeemer Jesus will honor his promises. St. Paul believes that in life and in death, his life is in God’s hands. That’s why he was not frightened by the reality of dying. As my mother was coming to the end of her life, she said to my eldest sister, “My daughter, you know that nothing lasts forever. I know you are saddened that I am talking about death. But don’t forget that I named my first son, God’s Will. We are created to do God’s will. And it is God’s will that will always prevail. I am dying, but I am returning to Jesus.” We are all haunted by death. The fear of death broods over the whole of life. But do not forget this reality: death does not have the final say. It might seem a loss, but it is finally a gain. No matter how final we think death is, God is more powerful. No matter how crushing death seems to us, it is nothing for God. The true and living God, the God of Israel has lordship over all the fields of death. Death does not have the final say. It does not have the final word. The final word is Resurrection! 

God bless you!