The Death of My Mother
(Marg Mowczko)
Today’s Reflection
Gospel: Jn 4:43-54 “Return to Galilee“
April 1, 2019 | Monday
At that time Jesus left [Samaria] for Galilee.
For Jesus himself testified
that a prophet has no honor in his native place.
When he came into Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him,
since they had seen all he had done in Jerusalem at the feast;
for they themselves had gone to the feast.
Then he returned to Cana in Galilee,
where he had made the water wine.
Now there was a royal official whose son was ill in Capernaum.
When he heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,
he went to him and asked him to come down
and heal his son, who was near death.
Jesus said to him,
“Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.”
The royal official said to him,
“Sir, come down before my child dies.”
Jesus said to him, “You may go; your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus said to him and left.
While the man was on his way back,
his slaves met him and told him that his boy would live.
He asked them when he began to recover.
They told him,
“The fever left him yesterday, about one in the afternoon.”
The father realized that just at that time Jesus had said to him,
“Your son will live,”
and he and his whole household came to believe.
Now this was the second sign Jesus did
when he came to Galilee from Judea.
Today’s Reflection
A few days before the death of my mother, our family were talking on whether we should give in or not to our mother’s death wish: to leave the hospital, stop all medical procedure, and just go home and wait for her time of passing. She told us: “I do not want you to reach a point where you would have to sell everything that we have just to support my medical care. Let us accept the fact that my stage 4 cancer has no more cures.” I thought my mother was already quitting all the hope there is, she’s already given up. Then I realized that my mother was not giving up, she was surrendering. Giving up means losing hope, but surrendering is when you allow God to take the wheel. Is it not the same reminder for us today?
