What will be the reaction of the mourners at our funeral? Will they comment on your physical or your spiritual beauty? Their reaction will speak volumes not only about how you will be remembered in life but also in death.

Planting good seeds, watering them with a hug, these are the types of moments that can take a hardened soil and soften them for something Divine to come and transform the field.

For those of us who weep at funerals, we know that the real tear-jerking moments are the ones where we watch the family approach the casket for the final kiss. Our hearts pour out to them with our own tears, not because we are thinking about our own death, but because we are reaching out of love and compassion for them.

An election in November will not change the world. Angry protests and rioting will never have a unifying effect. Position papers, blogs, and news articles will only harden hearts rather than soften them. The ONLY response to evil, to division, and to darkness is unconditional love of our enemies.

On the surface this Gospel account may seem like a simple story of faith: Faithful obedience in Christ’s commandments will bring us an overabundance of prosperity. While this is true in some circumstances, we should not be expecting big earthly rewards every time we are obedient. There is, in fact, an even greater lesson to be learned.