Cosette of LOLALI - death

Since you are having mass every day, I have used the readings of today instead of another reading for the dead.  This is not just for variety, but the choice comes from the belief that every time we attend the mass God meant that reading for us who are hearing it at that particular moment, with our particular needs and circumstances.  And so we allow God’s word to speak to us whatever that is, rather than simply choose what we want to hear from God.

Today we read from the first book of Samuel a familiar story.  It is the story of the call of the prophet Samuel.  When I was a little kid 45 years ago I remember having a book full of pictures.  It was a bible.  And I remember this story not so much for what it said exactly but the pictures of a little boy awakened three times by a voice in the night calling out to him in his sleep, and each time the little boy would promptly stand up and go to Eli thinking that it was the priest who called him.  

Little boys do not usually respond as promptly as Samuel did especially when they are called from their sleep.  Well at least I did not in my time.  I would probably wait for the fifth call or at least wait for the call that would sound irritated and angry before rising from bed.  But not Samuel.  Samuel was prompt.  He reported to Eli.  But each time Eli told him to go back to sleep for he did not call.  On the third call, Eli realized that probably it is God who is calling Samuel.  And so Eli told Samuel, “when the voice calls again, say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” And so Samuel did as Eli instructed  - ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.  And to explain why Samuel thought all the while that it was Eli who called him and not the Lord, the author explained, “At that time Samuel was not familiar with the LORD, because the LORD had not revealed anything to him as yet.”

Samuel was not yet familiar with the Lord, he was not yet familiar with his call and with his voice.  That is why he reported to Eli.  Only when he became familiar with the voice of the Lord, only when he was directed by Eli to the voice of the Lord did Samuel listen attentively to the Lord.

Are we familiar with the call of the Lord? Are we familiar with his voice?  There are probably a hundred voices in our minds and in our hearts pulling us to do this and to do that, to react to this and to react to that, to prefer this and to prefer that, to choose this and not that.  But this story is reminding us of that other voice, the voice we must come familiar with, the voice which calls us to love and forgive even if the voices of hatred and anger can grow louder and overwhelming; it is the tiny but consistent voice which calls us to be humble and generous even if the voices of ambition and greed can be insistent and terribly persuasive.  Are we familiar with this voice, are we more docile to this voice?

This mass on the last day of Tita Cosette’s wake is offered by a group so close to her but probably unknown to most of you.  Following a particular Facebook I have followed through her life in vignettes of homilies said throughout the wake – Cosette as a daughter, Cosette as a wife, Cosette as a mother, Cosette as an undisputable cook, Cosette as caterer to the great and the small, to the religious and the irreligious, Cosette of the various religious organizations.  Tonight she is just simply Cosette of the LOLALI.  What is this organization.  DO they have a vision mission, do they have a sec registration, do they have by-laws, elections and corporate structures, do they have requirements for membership?

No, Lolali is a group of friends who pledge themselves to love - lo, laugh - la and live - li.  Lolali.  It is a name of the group as much as it is the description of each person in the group, people who loved as much as they could, laughed as hard and as often as they could, and live life to the full.  That’s Cosette too, - more than a mother, more than an undisputable cook, more than a faithful and loving wife, yes she is all of the above but tonight she is simply LOLALI and I have a feeling that she is all of the above because in the first place she is LOLALI - she loved as much as she could, she laughed as hard and as often as she could, and lived life to the full.  No wonder she cooks well.

Many times we think of God’s call as serious stuff and serious matter - vocation to the priesthood, vocation to the married life, to motherhood, etc..  However when we are familiar with the call of God, when we are familiar with his voice, even the trivial, the little things, and the small moments can amount to a lot, for if he rewards the giving of a cup of cold water to a disciple surely God is also there in those times when we can just love, laugh, live and be among friends.

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