Twenty-fifth Sunday

Today I will focus on the 2nd Reading in the Liturgy of the Word for the Twenty-fifth Sunday. St. Paul is writing to the Church in Philippi. Paul is now in prison, facing possible death, but he is not living in fear of death; indeed, for him that would mean eternity with the Lord. What matters most for Paul is that his life gives glory to God, by what he does in faith, ministry and good works, no matter what his circumstances. He proclaims: Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me life is Christ, and death is gain. Even though Paul is now in prison, he continues to evangelize and guide the Churches. Paul demonstrates that no life is waisted, no matter what our condition – we may be out and about in service, advancing God’s Kingdom by a life of faith, or like Paul, we may be imprisoned, be it by illness – by injury – by handicap – by old age, and we can loose heart under such conditions, especially as we see ourselves living in a world that places highest value the productivity of the able-bodied. When I came to St. Augustine’s Parish in Dundas, I met a man who personified the message of St. Paul – "every life is valuable". His name is Patrick “Sonny” Burke. He lived in Lynden at the time, a parishioner of St. A’s. Sonny had A.L.S. and was confined to his home. One of my Communion calls, I would bring  Sonny Communion, then enjoy an engaging visit. When I first met Sonny, he was in a wheelchair, but still able to use his upper body. A former steel worker, now he worked every day on a computer, running an extensive website, compiling information on the Burke family tree. But gradually, Sonny lost use of his arms and hands. But in spite of that, he was still able to use a head wand to act as a mouse-controller for the computer. Eventually all movement was lost. Now unable to even speak, Sonny could only move his eyes and for a while was unable to use his computer. Then the A.L.S. folks gave Sonny an experimental computer system by which he was able to control the mouse features of his computer by movement of his eyes. With that, Sonny was able to communicate through the computer and continue to work on his website. After living the longest of any A.L.S. person in Ontario at that time, the Lord brought Sonny home. Sonny’s body never stopped “magnifying the Lord”, as St. Paul proclaims in today’s reading. Last Sunday, Paul reminded us: None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself. For if we live, we live for the Lord, and if we die, we die for the Lord; These bodies we live in are only on loan; not ours to waist, not ours to destroy. And when life is completed, we give them back and account for how we used them during the time we were given. One can only imagine the merits Sonny earned for his time in the confines of an A.L.S. body.  Sonny, thanks for teaching me how to value the life God has given me, life that is revealed in the gospel and taught to us by St. Paul in today's liturgy.  Pray for us, Sonny.