Death is Robbed of Its Sting

Title: Death is Robbed of Its Sting

Date: February 10, 1987 - St. Scholastica, Virgin

Readings: Song 8:6-7 / Psalm 148:1-2,11-12,13-14,14 / Luke 10:38-42

THE SISTER OF SAINT BENEDICT WAS BORN AT NORCIA, ITALY, AROUND 480. WITH HER BROTHER SHE CONSECRATED HERSELF TO GOD; SHE FOLLOWED HIM TO MONTE CASSINO, WHERE SHE DIED AROUND 547.

Our first reading, from the Song of Solomon, comforts us with the sweet admonition that love is as strong as death. In Jesus, we know that love is so strong that it even conquers death. Death as we experience it is a mystery which seems forever counterposed against love. Even in the great romances, we are most touched by the tragic love which skirmishes with death. Take for example the play of Romeo and Juliet. So great was their love that they could not bear to be separated, by either their families or by death. Take the tale of Orpheus, who even bargains in the pagan nether world to free his love. And, take the reality of Jesus, who could love his murderers so much, that he would undergo a criminal's death to save us.

The saint we commemorate today, Scholastica, loved her brother very much. And, upon one of his visits, she pleaded with him to stay the night with her and the nuns, to pray and to speak to them of God's love. He refused, saying that he could not spend even one evening away from his monastery. A great storm arose, and he was unable to depart until the next morning. A few days later, St. Scholastica died. So great was her love, so great was the concern of the God who loved her, that her holy desire to spend some time with her brother and to be edified by his counsel, was made possible. Again, in the life of one joined to Christ, death had been robbed of its sting.

If you get a chance today, you might turn to the Song of Solomon in your bibles and reread that beautiful passage we had today. Do we possess this kind of love? Is it the kind of love that gives life to others? We need to remember, "Deep waters cannot quench love, nor floods sweep it away."