Homily originally presented March 18, 2018.

Born to die!

Back in the 1950’s and 1960’s, some notorious Motorcycle Gangs rose up out in California.      Gangs with names such as

the Hells Angels and the Devils Disciples grew in size and popularity.

Gang members had the image of being tough guys and trouble-makers.

These guys had a real bad boy image ... and citizens were afraid of them ...

because they broke the law and were always fighting w/ rival gangs.

Gang members commonly wore tattoos on their arms and put insignias on their black leather jackets that showed their tough-guy image.    They often wore

a Skull & Cross-Bones with the words:  “Born to raise Hell”, or “Born to die”.

To them, those sayings were the ultimate in machismo and fearlessness.  To them the words, “Born to die” was their way of saying: “Hey, I’m going to die anyways

so why not go out with style ... living as a free-spirit and fearing no one”.

In other words, their motto “Born to die” had a tone of futility to it saying in effect,  “I can do whatever I want because I’m just a Badboy who was born to die anyway.”

Now while I certainly don’t agree with their particular use of that expression,

I do believe that they were onto something mighty profound …

from a spiritual point of view!

Consider the question, “Why was Jesus born?”          Why did God the Father send

His Only begotten Son to take on our humanity and to walk among us?

Well, let me give you the answer that a young lady gave in the movie “180” …  when she was asked,  “Do you know what God did for sinners?”        She said,

    “God sent His Son Jesus Christ to the earth to die on the Cross for sinners.”

Right answer!      Right answer!

God the Father sent His Son, Jesus to us to reconcile us with Him …

and the way He accomplished this … was through His death upon the Cross.

So, Jesus was born … to die!

Listen again to what Jesus said in our Gospel today, “I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? Father save me from this hour? But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour”. Jesus knew what was coming. He knew He was born to die ... for us.

Without Jesus’ death, without His act of perfect love for us, without his act of perfect obedience to the Father, of giving up His life on the Cross, the Gates of Heaven would still be closed ... and we’d still be struggling without God’s Spirit.

Thank goodness Jesus was born … He was born to die … for us!

You know, we call ourselves Christians … meaning that we’re followers of Christ.

So could it be ... that our mission ... is similar to His?

Could it be that we too ... were born to die?

Not die on a cross like He did,

but die to anything ...

that could keep us from experiencing the merits of His Cross … which is Heaven?

I think so.   Listen how Jesus instructed us in our Gospel today:

“Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies,

it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit”.

Farmers know all about this.

They plant seeds in the spring that must cease being seeds if they are to blossom

into grains of wheat that can then be used to make bread or cereal.

Pretty soon, we’ll see butterflies in the garden.

They are beautiful and they move about freely.

How did they get that way?

They used to be … an unattractive caterpillar ... that slinks on the ground.

What they did is they died to being a caterpillar, and blossomed into a Butterfly!

It’s called metamorphosis. It’s a beautiful transformation that is only possible by dying.

For it couldn’t become a Butterfly ... if it held onto being a caterpillar!

In the same way, we can’t enter into Everlasting Life if we hold on to Earthly life. We can’t have a Glorified Body ... if we hold on to our earthly body.

We can’t be a Saint ... if we hold on to being a Sinner!

It’s either one or the other … we can’t have both.

So you see, our journey to be with God is going to require some letting go.

And what does Jesus want us to let go of?    What does He want us to die to?

Jesus wants us to let go of all inordinate attachments to this world,

and He wants us to die to sin… which is the transgression of God’s law.

He wants us to detach ourselves from this world … from the temporary pleasures and comforts of this life ... such as money and possessions and power and success ... so that we’re assured of ending up in Heaven with Him.

Jesus said today,                      “Whoever loves his life loses it,

and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life.”

Since you can’t have both. Which one do you want? Life here or eternal life with God?

If you had to choose right now: to go to Heaven or stay here ...which would it be?

Now, if you even have to think about your answer … then you’re not ready for God!

Because if God were number one in your life …

if you truly loved Him with all your mind your soul and your strength ...  

then being with God would be the only thing that mattered to you.

So, how exactly do we die to ourselves?

You die to yourself when:

• you take your kids to McDonalds when you really wanted Full Moon BBQ.

You die to yourself when:

• you join your husband sleeping in a tent in the North Georgia mountains when you’d prefer to be laying by the pool at the Phoenix Hotel on Orange Beach.

You die to yourself when:

• you stay up to 10 at night helping your child with their homework or attending their school play... or picking them up from sports... or taking them to the Doctor when you’d prefer to be home watching a good movie in your pajamas.

You die to yourself when:

• you listen to an inspirational CD driving home instead of your favorite songs.

You die to yourself when:

• you pray the Rosary before bed even though ... you’re dead tired and would prefer to just close your eyes in sleep.

You die to yourself when:

• you offer your ear to listen to a troubled co-worker, neighbor or friend ... when you’ve got a million other things you need to be doing.

You die to yourself when:

• you give food or clothing or money to someone in great need ... even though you’re trying hard to scrimp and save for yourself.

Lent is the time when ... with God’s special help ... we can make great strides

in dying to the world ... dying to sin ... and dying to ourselves. 

That’s why the Church encourages ... Prayer and Fasting and Almsgiving.

The way we die to ourselves is by thinking more about God and others ...

than about ourselves!

The Saints have shown us that this is possible.

They successfully died to themselves ... so that they could be united with God!

It’s possible ... but not particularly easy ...

in our humanness we want to hold onto what we have here.

We heard this human desire in our Lord ... in our second reading from Hebrews

“In the days when Jesus Christ was in the flesh, he offered prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death.”

And Jesus admits of his struggle today saying:

“I am troubled now. Yet what should I say? ‘Father save me from this hour?

But it was for this purpose that I came to this hour’”.

Thankfully ... Jesus let go of His life in this world and died …

Because by dying to this life ... He opened the doors to Eternal Life.

Through the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, Reconciliation and Eucharist,

we receive the grace to die to ourselves, to die to this world and to die to sin.

Dying is not just a part of life … it is essential for inheriting Eternal Life.

So you see ... come to think of it ... the Hells Angels had it right all along ...

when they said they were ... born to die!

Because ... we’re all born to die!

Not in the sense that life is futile. Not in the sense that no matter what we do,

good or bad, we’re going to end up in the grave.

But, rather, by God’s design, we’re born to die …

to ourselves ... to the world ... and to sin ...

so that ... we’ll be able to be transformed into a Saint ...

becoming a shining witness of God on earth ...

and ultimately a permanent resident with God in Heaven.