By Fr. Victor Feltes
The evening before Jesus died, John’s Gospel recounts him saying at the Last Supper: “I am going to the one who sent me… But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts.” Jesus’ disciples, his loved ones, his friends, were understandably concerned and sad to hear of his departure. But Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me.” Jesus tells them again, “Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I will come back to you.’ … And now I have told you this before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe.”
The next day, they were traumatized by his Passion and death. Luke’s Gospel records that “all [of Jesus’] acquaintances stood at a distance… and saw these events.” And they were witnesses to his burial. Perhaps at first, on Good Friday evening, Jesus’ dear ones were too stunned to feel anything but numb. But then, on Holy Saturday, the reality of what had happened probably settled in. They mourned losing him and were left to ask “Why? How could God let an innocent young man die like this? How is that not a senseless and pointless death?” That might be how we feel today on this day of Stanley’s funeral.
Stanley’s parents tell me he valued the Holy Scriptures, attending a Bible study in high school. He probed the things of God, asking his folks tough religious questions — not looking for excuses but to better understand our Faith. Devoted to worshiping God, he expressed disappointment rather than delight on those rare occasions when circumstances kept his family from attending Sunday Mass. And he desired fellowship with God’s saints, departing from us wearing a St. Francis of Assisi medal around his neck. Why would God allow his beloved friend to die so young?
Reflecting upon Jesus’ Passion and death, we wonder at the mystery of how an innocent 33-year-old being whipped, crucified, and murdered achieves the forgiveness of our sins. Yet it is revealed to us that through patiently endured trials — trials a person would prefer to avoid like a cup of soured wine — God’s holy ones are exalted and our world is saved.
Consider the patron saint of this parish, St. Paul. St. Paul the Apostle is not our Savior and Lord, yet Jesus Christ involves him in his saving work. Because Paul was willing to preach, new peoples were reached. Because Paul bore great sufferings, Christ’s salvation came to others. As Paul wrote to the Colossians: “I now rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the Church…” By faithfully enduring and dying how and when he did, he entered into heaven’s greater glory.
In the words of the Book of Wisdom: “If before men, indeed [God’s own seem] punished, yet is their hope full of immortality; Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed, because God tried them and found them worthy of himself. As gold in the furnace, he proved them, and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself. [And] they shall shine…” Our faithful sufferings, our prayers and penances, our labors, losses and dyings, when mystically united to Christ’s, transform us and help save others. This is called redemptive suffering, and while not yet answering every “why,” it changes how Christians see our pains and tragedies in life.
Jesus Christ came to the aid of humanity with his divinity, fashioning for us a remedy out of mortality itself, that the cause of our downfall might become the means of our salvation. As he told his disciples the night before he died, “So you also are now in anguish. But I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.” Though Jesus’ disciples mourned and questioned on Holy Saturday, a brief time later, with Easter’s resurrection, they joyfully saw their beloved one again. This is our Christian faith and our consoling hope and Jesus Christ’s promise regarding Stanley too.
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