In fact, our faith teaches us that it is just the beginning. ![]() The very first thing he begins to do is bargain with him! “Hey, can we make a deal here.” Death is something to be avoided at all costs.īut death, for us as Christians, is not the end of all things. A successful businessman suddenly receives a mysterious visit from death. You might remember the movie "Meet Joe Black" that came out a number of years ago. We have thousands of items on the market that help us look younger, hide aging, slow down the dying process, yet all the while the clock is ticking and we are trying with all our might to ignore that medallion swinging from our watch chain, telling us to regard the end. One of the challenges we face as Christians in our current culture is what some have called the “suppression of death.” So much of what we see and read and experience everyday sends us the message that “This life is all there is.” What does it mean to be ready? What does it mean to be prepared to meet the bridegroom, who is Christ? It means, essentially, that we “regard the end.” We understand what the end means for us as Christians, what Christ wants us to understand about our life here on this earth, about death, but ultimately about eternal life in the world to come. The bridegroom is delayed in coming suddenly he arrives, and Jesus says that “ those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him” ( Matthew 25:10). In the end, that’s what makes all the difference. And the only thing He gives us to distinguish between the two is that the wise virgins have oil for their lamps and the foolish ones do not. Jesus tells the Parable of the Ten Virgins: five of them wise and the other five, foolish. Yet all of these “last things” are present in some way in our Gospel this morning. We have come to that time again in the Church’s liturgy, the end of the liturgical year, when we begin to look at what the Church calls “the last things.” Traditionally the last things are death, judgment, heaven and hell (things we do not usually talk about over our morning cup of coffee). We must all “regard the end.” But the irony is that all throughout the story, Ivan Ilyich does anything but “regard the end.” He is simply unprepared-even unwilling-to face that reality until the very bitter end. It is supposed to be a reminder that just as we cannot stop the hands of time, we will all one day come to the end of life. Towards the beginning, Tolstoy describes a medallion that Ivan Ilyich wears, hanging from the chain of his pocket watch, and inscribed on that medallion is the Latin phrase: Respice Finem (regard the end). There is a classic short story by the great Russian author Leo Tolstoy called “ The Death of Ivan Ilyich.” In that story the main character suddenly discovers that he is dying, and the whole tale focuses on his struggle of coming to grips with that reality. For fans of: Megadeth, Forced Entry, Heathen, Testament, Forbidden, Atrophy, old Metallica, Acrophet, Flotsam and Jetsam.(32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time-Year A This homily was given 6 November, 2005, at Our Lady of Mercy, East Greenwich, R.I.).The band reunited and plan to play some shows and start writing for the third album soon.Follow-up to "Harsh Realities" (1990, Metal Blade).Engineered, mixed and co-produced by Jack Endino. The "lost" 2nd album of this technical thrash band from Seattle (1991/1992 sessions) with bonus tracks.The high skill of all the musicians is on display here - even when they slow down, you can often relish some really tasty solos. Brilliant, inspired songs with attitude, driven by usually fast, but clean and perfectly flowing riffs, that should appeal mostly to fans of MEGADETH, but also FORCED ENTRY, DEATH ANGEL, HEATHEN, ATROPHY, ACROPHET and FORBIDDEN. After 20 years "Have a Nice Death!" finally sees the light of day (together with "Meet Your Maker" '88 demo and 4 live tracks as a bonus) and shows progression from "Harsh Realities" in all departments. One of the most underrated technical thrash bands, BITTER END from Seattle, called it quits soon after releasing their debut on Metal Blade, but before they did, they recorded songs for their 2nd album.
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