“Life Wins”

Originally Posted July 14, 2020

The other night I was thinking of all the good things of this earth, especially all the good men and women that I have known … wonderful people. I am very grateful for having known them. But then my next thought was so many of them have died…. and in the future many more will die. The earth seems diminished by their passing…their love is no longer visible… their gifts are no longer manifested. That really stinks. I hate death. 

You can certainly think of family and loved ones who have passed away… and the loss they are to you…mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, even children. You can think of close friends with whom you shared many memories. You can think of men and women who you never met, but their contributions affected you… holy men and women, great writers and teachers, composers, great statesmen, philanthropists …. who’s many contributions enlightened your life. There is a sadness when they pass. 

Today I learned that the composer Ennio Morricone had passed away at 91. I knew he was elderly, so it’s not a shock. At the same time, I thought “oh, the world has lost a great talent who wrote so many beautiful songs. We’ve all marveled at the beautiful song Gabriel’s Oboe from the movie “The Mission” (with lyrics it’s called Nella Fantasia). I’m sorry he’s no longer with us…. what a gift.

On a note closer to home, Tom Sicola  just passed away. Tom served as a deacon for 25 years at Our Lady of the Mount Church … a great husband, father, friend to many…kind and generous. I didn’t know Tom well but I certainly knew of him. Years ago, he generously loaned his saxophone to our son David learning to play…he and his wife invited friends who had a housing problem to live with them …. last year I had the privilege of playing golf with him…. he still had a pretty good swing. I’m sorry that he’s gone. I will miss him.

I’m not breaking any new ground with this BLOG, but it’s still a fundamental part of our life…. life on earth ends in death. This was not God’s plan for his creation. Death showed up with sin…”the wages of sin is death”. (Romans 6:23) This was not God’s intention.  But thank God he decided to do something about it. By his cross and resurrection, we are set free from the bondage to sin and death. Christ will have the last word, not death. So there is good news. Christ has conquered the devil. He has conquered sin. He has conquered death. In the meantime, we will have some sorrow. I’m sorry when I lose someone…. but the Good News is that it’s a temporary sorrow. In the end, all will be well with my soul. In the end, death will have lost its power. In heaven, there is no more death. We will be reunited with our loved ones…and boy oh boy, that is really good news!