Legacy

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102825.cfm

Over the course of human history, a great deal of effort has been expended by many in the interest of one thing: building their legacy. How will they be remembered? What will others say of them when they die? Monuments, buildings, parks, libraries, companies – all bear the name of individuals (or their heirs) seeking to establish their legacy. Many of these people did great things, some of those great things were also ‘GOOD’ things. Jesus establishes a legacy as well, but His is a little different.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus enumerates the names of twelve men. Names that are being read and recognized more than 2,000 years later. Churches and organizations and parishes throughout the world bear their names, yet at the time of the writing of today’s Gospel, they would have only been concerned about one thing: bringing as many people as possible to Christ before His second coming. This indeed was their legacy, and indeed it was the legacy that was bestowed upon them by Jesus himself. Jesus gave them the power to heal and cast out demons; He gave them the Holy Spirit to inspire them in word and deed and He gave them His body so that they might be Christ-like for others – all so that more might be brought to Him. This is what they did, and this is what built their legacy.

So what legacy are we working on building? What do we want people to say about us after we die. What will they say at our funeral? Will anyone even be there? Well I have been to a lot of funerals, and some of them have established great legacies – or better yet, Jesus has established one through them. Not only do people flock to honor and celebrate their lives, but there is a different character to their funerals – they are celebratory!

Lives well lived can be celebrated with confidence. When someone lives for others, it is celebrated. When someone establishes their life as built on the Love of Christ – it is celebrated. When someone brings others to Christ – the celebration carries on to the lives that were brought to Jesus. Celebration is often not the theme of funerals for those whose lives leave their fate uncertain.

So what will be your legacy? What will they say when you cross from this life to the next? Will you establish your own legacy, or will you adopt HIS legacy? Well the Apostles gave us a bit of a roadmap: Build your legacy by not caring about it. That is how you adopt HIS legacy. Don’t worry about what they will say about you, only what they will say about Christ. This is hard for us to come to grips with, but it really is the only legacy that is worth pursuing. It is a legacy that will not only last forever in THIS world, but in the eternal one. As much as the Apostles are revered here on earth, they sit on twelve seats of honor in heaven – FOREVER. Now THAT’S a legacy.