[Mass on the First Death Anniversary of Mrs. Letty Teodoro, 30 May 2024.]
I thought that instead of a homily we might have a sharing of personal recollections of Tita Letty. But Helen thought that there'd be ample time for sharing during the comfort meal that has been prepared for us today. So she said that I should give you a homily – and take all the time I need – short or long - to say what I want to say. All the time I need, she said. I promise I won't go over an hour.
So the first is this: We are grateful to be called to come together as family on this first anniversary of Tita Letty in heaven. This is our hope in the Paschal Mystery – the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. This is our prayer for this Mass: "Lord God, Almighty Father, you have made the Cross for us a sign of strength and marked us as yours in the sacrament of the resurrection. Now that you have freed our sister, Letty, from this mortal life, make her one with your saints in heaven." Let us recall her today, her kindness, love, her remarkable strength, her sacrifices in life for us, the trials of her last years with us, her gentleness, her belief in God and the redeeming work of her Son and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. Today let us thank the Father that, after her mission in life was completed, you called her, Father, to her heavenly rest, making her "one with your saints in heaven." Today, as Jesus from heaven, intercedes for us on earth, we ask Tita Letty in heaven also to intercede for each of us. We ask her, who knows each of us so intimately, to intercede for the graces and gifts we need to complete our missions in life – and so too, in Christ, to enter into our heavenly rest.
My second point is a prayer based on the Gospel: that we may see. We believe that Tita Letty, having entered the heavenly sanctuary, looks upon the Lord: that is a vision of absolute Light, Love, Truth, Majesty, Splendor, Divinity, before which people in this life are normally terrified. How can one look upon the Lord in all one's unworthiness and sin, and yet live? It is different though when through suffering and dying with the Lord, the Risen Lord lifts us up redeemed to the embrace of the heavenly Father. Redeemed, we behold his face shining upon us. And we shine in that Light.
But before that beatific vision, here on earth, we can only see imperfectly. At present we see "indistinctly," Paul says, "as in a hazy mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known" (1 Cor 13: 12). In our Gospel reading, Bartimaeus cannot not even see what we see imperfectly. So hearing Jesus approaching he calls out, " 'Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!' Many rebuke him, telling him to be silent. But he keeps calling out all the more. 'Son of David, have pity on me!' Jesus stops and says, 'Call him.' So they call the blind man saying to him, 'Take courage, get up, Jesus is calling you!'" Jesus then asks him, " 'What do you want me to do for you?' The blind man replied, 'Master, that I may see.'"
I suggest, this may be our prayer, "Lord, that we may see! … Lord, that I may see." Even as calling on Jesus may be an embarrassment to many in our lives; some may rebuke us saying, "Don't be silly!" "No need to disturb the Lord!" "No need for any Lord!" Even though they betray a blindness darker than the blindness of Bartimaeus.
"Lord, that I may see. Where I am blinded by the digital images of YouTube, Tiktok, Facebook and X, that I may see the bursts of yellow blossoms of the narra, the scarlet of the caballeros, the white flowers of the kalachuchi, and the shaded greens on green of our Eucalyptus. That I might see the reds and yellows and blues of our parrots, the majestic flight of our Philippine Eagle, and the awesome turquoise of our kingfishers.
"Lord, that I might see. Where others lose their way, when I lose my way. Lord, when my vision is blurred, when vision is narrowed, and narrow visions are bounced back on narrower visions, when visions are blocked by walls, and sunshine is blocked by buildings, and the products of human enterprise block the view of the sacred mountain in the distance and the bay shimmering in the light of the sun, "Lord, that I might see!"
"Lord, when loved ones are in need, and I cannot see, when I cannot see because I don't want to see, when others are vulnerable, and I am impregnable, when others are destitute, and I am prosperous, when others are insecure, and I am confident, …or when I am blind, because I too am vulnerable, poor, needy and insecure, Lord, that I might see!"
The good news of our Gospel reading for today is its outcome. Jesus tells Bartimaeus: "Go your way. Your faith has saved you." He began to see, he saw, and followed Jesus. And Jesus led him through life to Life to see what Tita Letty now sees, no longer as in a hazy mirror, but face to face.
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