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3rdSunday of Easter, Cycle B
April 15, 2018
Terranova Hermitage
Alive and There for Others
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato
Alive
Back in August of 2016, about a year and a half ago, there was a moving article in The Washington Post.
The article was written by a woman named Tracy Grant. She is now the Managing Editor for Staff Development at The Post.
Tracy Grant writes that in 2003, her husband Bill was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. She says that over the course of seven months, he went from from beating her silly at tennis to needing her help to get to the bathroom.
Tracy Grant says that this was a difficult, stressful and exhausting time. But, she also says that those seven months were the time in her life when she felt “most alive.”
Seeing
Tracy Grant reflects that she was a respected professional and also a parent of two sons.
She writes this. “I had to discover the reason why I was on this earth.
“During those seven months, I came to understand that whatever else I did in my life, nothing mattered more.
I discovered that the petty grievances of an irksome coworker or a flat tire pale in comparison with the beauty of spontaneous laughter, the night sky, or the smells of a bakery.
“There were moments of joy, laughter, and tenderness everyday – if I was willing to look hard enough. I found I could train myself to set my internal barometer to be more compassionate than callous.”
Purposeful
Tracy Grant goes on to say that in the days following Bill’s diagnosis and brain surgery, she really used all her skills as a reporter.
She researched clinical trials and talked with oncologists in several states. She says that this gave her a sense of purpose.
And, it gave Bill comfort and some laughs. He would chuckle as he listened to her arguing with insurance companies about what was and was not covered.
Grateful
Thirteen years after Bills’ death, Tracy Grant looks at those last seven months with her husband with lots of gratitude.
She writes this. “I haven’t started a foundation to cure cancer.
“I haven’t left the news business to get a medical degree. I work.
“I try to be there for my sons. I will never again have that high a purpose.
“But every day, I try again to be the person I became during those seven months. I try to be a little less judgmental, a little more forgiving and generous, a little more grateful for the small moments in my life.
“I am a better person for having been Bill’s caregiver. It was his last, best gift to me.”
“Flesh and Bones”
I think that is a great story and it really brings today’s Gospel alive for us.
Jesus appears – the passage says “flesh and bones” – to his disciples. In turn, the disciples become much more alive as persons and as persons of faith.
They are now seeing things differently and are much more purposeful and grateful for life. They become for others the “flesh and bones” of the risen Christ.
Whether or not she thought of it this way, Tracy Grant experienced Jesus in his “flesh and bones” in her sick and dying husband. And through this, as she says, she became much more alive as a person.
She was seeing things differently and she became much more purposeful and grateful for life. In turn, she became the “flesh and bones” of the risen Christ especially to her sons.
So, Jesus began a process in that resurrection appearance. It is a process that each one of us is to be drawn into.
We are to experience Jesus in his “flesh and bones” maybe in your teenage daughter or son who brings great enthusiasm and hope, or in your spouse or elderly parent who is sick and needs assistance, and on it goes.
Through this, we can become more alive as persons and as persons of faith.
Conclusion
We can see things differently and become much more purposeful and grateful for life. We can become for others the “flesh and bones” of the risen Christ.
That’s how I see today’s gospel. And I thank Tracy Grant for helping me to see this in a whole new way.
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