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Fifth Sunday of
Easter – C
Acts 14:21-27, Rv
21:1-5 Jn 13:31-35
May 6, 2007
Fr. Carl McCarthy
In an instant, one’s life
can change. We have heard this often, and still, if it hasn’t happened to
us, it may be hard to believe. In January 2006, Bob Woodruff, co-anchor of
ABC World News Tonight, was in Iraq covering the war. B ob
and his crew were embedded with the U.S. Army when an IED – an improvised
explosive device – hit their tank, injuring both
Bob and his cameraman. The ball
bearings in the bomb struck Bob’s head, and he suffered a traumatic brain
injury that nearly killed him.
Bob and his wife, Lee, tell
the heart-wrenching story of this incredible event in their book, In An
Instant. In the book, they explain that one moment their lives were
fine, and in the next they are blown apart, and, through what had to be a
miracle, they put their lives back together again. They describe those
first bloody days in the Iraqi desert, those first surgeries, and the five
weeks of a drug-induced coma, during which the family waited for the
swelling in his brain to subside so it would heal.
They speak of the
frustration of Bob’s painful and slow recovery. They speak of Lee’s
determination to keep her family together, despite her fear that Bob would
die or be handicapped for the remainder of his life. One of the most
telling moments came when she asked the neurosurgeon, “I just want to know
-- will he still love me?”
Bob says that he will never
really understand the full extent of what Lee endured for him -- the depth
of her grief and fear, the reserves of energy from which she drew, her
ability to hope and love, even though he was completely unresponsive. For
five weeks she stared at his wounds and his partial skull as he slept, and
she held his hand, praying that he would wake up and recover. When he did
wake up and see her face, he says that he loved her more then ever before.
He had never thought that would be possible.
In an instant, their lives
were transformed, and they discovered how love helped them do things that
they never thought they could have done.
Lee says that you have no
way of knowing how you will act in a crisis until it drops from the sky
and knocks you down like a thief, stealing your future and robbing your
dreams.
In the end, they believe
that their four children will be more loving, more empathetic, and more
wonderful human beings. They found that there are no perfect parents --
just mothers and fathers doing the best that they can to get through.
They discovered that there are not perfect spouses -- only those who love
each other enough to stand by for better or for worse. All of this takes
endurance, but, most of all, it requires the ability to love.
We may not want to believe
it, but, in an instant, our lives can change. I wonder if this could
account for some of the fear that the disciples encounter. Jesus has told
them that he will only be with them for a little while longer. This
bothers them greatly because they do not know how they will live when
Jesus is no longer physically present.
Jesus answers the
disciples’ fear by sharing with them a new commandment, “Love one another,
as I have loved you.” The key is to understand how Jesus has loved them.
Here are three ways: he gave himself in service by washing their feet; he
gave himself in sacrifice by going to the cross; he gave himself as new
life by the resurrection. Perhaps, if we model our lives in the same way
through service, sacrifice and new life, then when those hard times come,
we will find the ability to love all the more. But let’s not wait to see;
let’s start living this way of love for one another today.
sdrose@bellsouth.net
6-2-2007 |