A Reflection for the Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas
Find today’s readings here.
Children, it is the last hour;
and just as you heard that the antichrist was coming,
so now many antichrists have appeared.
Thus we know this is the last hour.
In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
All things came to be through him,
and without him nothing came to be.
How do you think about first things and last things at the same time? That seems to be the task before us as we consider the readings for the final day of the calendar year.
The first letter from John warns his readers that the last hour is here, the world is passing away, antichrists are in our midst. The Gospel from John, on the other hand, brings us back to the very beginning, reminding us that God is the author of all life.
Last things and first things, a passing away and a bringing to life. The readings highlight a tension that lies at the heart of a Christian life. We celebrate the life that God gives to us in so many forms, all the while knowing that life here on earth is passing away and that our true home awaits us in heaven.
On a remarkable day this month, I encountered this spiritual reality in a dramatic way.
For the second year in a row, I traveled to the Dominican Republic to visit a mission supported by priests, deacons and lay people from Long Island, New York. For many years, my godfather, Father John Cervini, served as pastor of El Cercado, a town in the “frontiers” of the country, not far from the Haitian border. He led the trip along with others from Long Island who have visited many times.
One morning, we traveled into a nearby community to bless a water tank funded by a family in the United States. When we were finished, we witnessed the baptisms of 10 children and three adults in the community. Against a gorgeous mountain backdrop, we sang “Amen” again and again as each new Christian was welcomed into our midst.
But after we finished and shared refreshments together, we turned to a more somber duty. Next door, in a ramshackle home just a few yards from where we were gathered, mourners stood around the coffin of a 15 year old boy who had recently died. He had been disabled from birth, never able to speak. His family cared for him in his home from the day he was born until the day he died.
Father John, after welcoming the newly baptized, walked next door and offered prayers of consolation over the body of the deceased.
It was only later that I learned how remarkable that moment was. The family mourning their son had another child among the baptized. The boy’s mother did not attend the baptism because she would not leave her deceased son.
Death and life, so close together. First things and last things, joined forever in the memory of a December afternoon.
