My high school class '68 just celebrated our golden anniversary, and we had a grand reunion the other day. Of the more than 200 people belonging to that batch, about 60 came.
Quite a number already passed to eternal life. I read a long list of teachers and batchmates who passed away, before celebrating Mass. Others could not make it for one reason or another --health, distance, previous appointments, etc.--but everyone practically followed the event through technology.
As the only priest in the batch, I was asked to say two Masses and give spiritual input. On the spot, they made me chaplain of the class and I accepted.
I was moved to see them, many of whom I have not seen for 50 years. As expected, there were those doing well in life, those struggling, those whom I expected to get into a certain condition in life, and those who surprised me.
Anyway, what is important --and this was one of my main messages-- is that we should keep strong our class spirit. I told them that as persons, we are not only individuals, but persons expected to form a strong community spirit in every level in our life, until we all become the People of God, the family of God.
For a strange reason, I stood up to sing some songs of our time during our dinners since there was a band. It was a good move, since many others let down their shyness and also started singing.
That was when I had a big surprise --there were actually many good singers, dancers, and entertainers among my classmates. It took 50 years to discover their hidden talents. You see, during our time, it was not the usual practice to show off our talents. Unlike today…
Anyway, I told my classmates that our memories, whether good or bad, are precious treasures. If seen with faith, they show us the guiding and merciful hand of God. They offered lessons to learn, they are reasons to thank God for everything.
Given our age now, I told them we still have to learn to flow with the times, learning the art of inter-generational interactions. We actually still have a lot to offer especially to the young who know more about the technical things. We can show them what is actually most essential in life --how to love, to understand and respect everyone including those with whom we have big differences, etc.
I also told them that while before we were encouraged to be future-ready by acquiring as many skills as possible, now we have to be more eternity-ready and to see to it we have what we need for a happy eternal life.
And that can only be love --the love that comes from God who loves us to death with his mercy and compassion. All the events and circumstances of our life, good or bad, should be made to develop and grow in that love.
I told them not to be fear death, since death is the transition from our earthly, temporal life to eternal life. I reminded them our time on earth is the time of God's creation. We should try to cooperate with God's action on us as best as we can.