Homily
Jud Weiksnar, ofm
I was there when Amy was born, was baptized, and graduated. In those pictures, everyone around her was happy. She had that gift of being able to bring joy to the people around her. Yesterday, at the funeral home we heard that from so many of you--her coaches, teachers, friends, neighbors, classmates. So I wondered why, with so much going for her, she would turn to drugs.
I live in Camden, New Jersey, the poorest and most violent city in the United States. In less than 10 square miles, there are over 100 open air drug markets. It's a drug mecca. People theorize why there are so many drugs in Camden. Fewer than half the children graduate from high school. There are few job opportunities. Many families are fractured. So people theorize that the people in Camden use drugs to escape their reality.
But what did Amy have to escape from? She went to the best schools, had all the opportunities a child could want, and had the best parents and most loving brother, sister, grandparents, teachers and coaches you could imagine.
For some people drugs aren't an escape. The addiction is an illness, a disease that we might think we understand, but that we can't control. Despite our best efforts, we do not have power over it. In these situations, it's best to stop dwelling on why, and start dwelling on what. An irrational, illogical, crazy, senseless tragedy happened. What do we do?
We do the Mary Magdalene thing, which we just heard about in the Gospel. Mary Magdalene was confused, sad, and angry. But Jesus didn't explain why he had to die. He told her what to do. And she did it. She ran, and told the others good news. You started doing the Mary Magdalene thing as soon as you heard the terrible news--you called, and at times there were calls on the landline and three cell phones; you made turkey pie; you set up a Facebook tribute. You drove or flew hundreds of miles to express your love. That's the Mary Magdalene thing to do. Of all the people who came through the line yesterday at the wake, I didn't hear anyone try to explain why this happened. They were just doing the what. In the face of death, what we do is we love. It's a New Jerusalem thing, as we heard in the second reading, where every tear is wiped away. That's what the early Christian community did. They testified to something more powerful than death. Mary Magdalene ran from the tomb to share that Good News. That's what you have done these past four days. And keep doing it. Keep creating the conditions for love, for peace, for justice.
And if that's what we mere human beings can do, who are sinful, imperfect, and limited, can we imagine what God is capable of? May Amy rest in that perfect peace, and be celebrating that perfect joy.