Taking the Time to Make a Difference

It’s Easter time, so it’s OK to talk about death. Death is a topic we often avoid, or at least many people do, except on rare occasions. We have All Saints Day and All Souls Day on the Catholic calendar, times when we can recall those who have gone before us into eternal life. But Halloween probably gets more attention than anything else at that time of the year. Halloween has become a big business, with home and yard decorations competing in sales with Christmas decorations. We have Memorial Day on the national calendar. We used to call it Decoration Day, I recall, and it was a time to decorate the graves of those who had given their lives in service to their country. Ceremonies are held by veterans’ groups and others, but they have to compete with store-wide sales events and picnics. Some of the new families in our area, and throughout the nation, bring with them a custom of celebrating the Day of the Dead. Those who have passed on are remembered, with favorite foods and other items from their lives placed on an altar. It is an annual reminder that death is a part of all human life. We have daily Mass, of course, but I suspect the harsh reality of the death of Jesus on the cross is not uppermost in most people’s minds. It shouldn’t be, of course, since we are an Easter people – but we do need to face the reality of Good Friday as well. Mel Gibson’s movie about the Passion of Jesus Christ was panned by some, but it attracted millions. The Last Temptation of Jesus Christ, a movie from a book by Nikos Kazantzakis, was banned in some quarters. Both movies in their own way attempted to show the reality of human suffering and death – physical, spiritual, total – as experienced by Jesus Christ. Facing such reality is painful.

* * *

As a reporter for radio, television and now this newspaper, I have at times struggled with how death is reported. But I don’t think I will ever forget hearing a recording of the radio broadcast of the crash of the German Zeppelin, Hindenburg, from 1937. The phrase I recall is simple, a tearful exclamation: “Oh the humanity!” I recently went to the web site, www.otr.com, where I heard it again. The reporter, Herb Morrison, was describing the scene in New Jersey, on a day of thunderstorms and heavy rain. The hydrogen-filled Zeppelin was nearing its mooring tower when it suddenly burst into flames. Morrison is shocked, but keeps talking though breaking occasionally overcome by the tragedy unfolding in front of him. He sobs. “I can’t talk.” He continues reporting. “I can hardly breathe.” He describes the flames, the rush of ground crew members to get away from the falling airship. “It’s the worst thing I’ve ever witnessed.” The web site author concludes that this historic recording is “radio news at its finest; news events reported as they happened. The description is brought home to radio's listeners and we in turn grieve for the dead and injured.” I conclude that this is humanity at its finest.

* * *

I know the comparison is incredibly poor, but at Easter time, we have the opportunity once again to listen in faith to the words of our Scriptures. Oh, the humanity!

* * *

It is the divinity of Jesus Christ that gives us hope. Death is real but we too will rise. At Easter time, when we hear again the proclamation of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are called to be doers of the word, not hearers only. The Easter reality is how we can take action, to comfort the sorrowful and to visit the sick, to pray for the living and the dead, and to bury the dead – as we are counseled by traditional church teaching about the corporal and spiritual works of mercy. Easter is a time to make a difference.

Send your comments about "Taking Time to Make a Difference" to . Contact about subscribing for your newspaper.