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How
Not to Be Afraid
April
29-30,2006
Confirmation
and First Commuion
Rev.
George Smiga
Luke
24:35-48
I
don't know if any of you have ever seen a ghost, but if you
have, you know that it is not a fun experience. In today's
Gospel, the disciples saw Jesus after he rose from the dead
and they thought he was a ghost. They were terrified. When
I was about the age of those of you who are about to make
your Confirmation and First Communion, I saw a ghost .
Here is how it happened:
Each
year as we celebrate another Confirmation and First Communion
I realize how very old I am becoming. When I was in the second
grade, they had just invented television. (You see what I
mean.) I remember one summer evening our family was watching
“Walt Disney.” Although television was very new, it was already
very clever. Mr. Disney was showing clips from his new movie
to encourage us to see it. The movie was called “Darby O'Gill
and the Little People.” It was a story about an Irish man
who spoke to little people, which was another name for leprechauns.
I don't know if you know what a leprechaun is. It is like
a small, magical character. You could probably call it an
Irish fairy.
The
leprechauns were the fun part of this movie. But there also
was in the movie a ghost, an Irish ghost, which was called
a banshee. Now, trust me, if any of you were to see this movie
today, you would not be afraid of this ghost at all, because
I know that you are all familiar with special effects in movies.
You see them in the theater, you watch them on DVD at home.
You see dinosaurs and space ships and ghosts of one kind or
another, so they don't surprise you. But back at the time
when television was new, this was the first special effect
I had ever seen. It scared me silly. The banshee was big and
black and it moved around like a cloud. It had a face of an
old woman who kept screeching and wailing and scratching on
the window of Darby O'Gill's bedroom, trying to get inside
the house.
Now
as soon as I saw it on the television I closed my eyes because
I was afraid. It was too late. The banshee was already in
my head; I could not forget it. But that was not the worst
part. The worst part was, as soon as the television show was
over, it was time to go to bed! Then I remembered something
about my bedroom. In my bedroom I not only had a window like
Darby O'Gill had, I also had a door, a door that went onto
our back porch. Because it was in the middle of the summer
(and because no one had air conditioning in their home then)
the door and the window were wide open. There was only a very
thin screen that was between me in my bedroom and whatever
was out there in the darkness.
“Dad,”
I said, “I think I'd like to sleep tonight with the door and
window shut.”
“What?”
said my dad, “It is the middle of the summer. It is ninety
degrees! You'd never survive. You've got to keep them open.”
I realized that he was right. So I went up to the screen door
to make sure it was locked. As I jiggled the flimsy little
lock, I just shook my head. I said to myself, “ I
could push my way through this door! What's going to stop
a banshee from coming in?”
So
I lay down in bed, in the dark, trying to get to sleep. No
luck. I could not fall to sleep. Every little noise I heard
outside, every rustle of the wind sounded to me just like
a banshee climbing up the steps of the back porch. So I lay
there, listening. Suddenly I heard a looow, loooong, deeeep
moan. “Help, help!” I cried. My dad came running in. “What's
the matter?” “Dad, I think there's a banshee on the back porch,
and it's moaning!” “George,” my dad said, “that is the train
whistle. You hear that every night. Now there is no such thing
as a banshee. Go back to sleep.”
Well,
now that he pointed it out, it did sound like the train whistle.
That gave me some comfort. So I thought I would just close
my eyes. I do not know how long my eyes were closed, but suddenly
I heard something, and it sounded very close. I opened my
eyes, and there, at the foot of my bed, right inside the screen
door, STOOD THE BANSHEE! It was just like it was on television,
except that instead of being black it was yellow. It was waving
its' hands over its' head and moaning and yelling and looking
right at me. “Help, help!” I cried. As soon as I called out,
the banshee disappeared. My dad rushed in, “What's the matter?”
“Dad,” I said, “you've got to believe me. There was just a
banshee at the foot of my bed and it was looking right at
me!” “George,” my dad said, “you were sleeping. You were dreaming.
You just thought you saw a banshee. There is no such thing
as a banshee. So it cannot hurt you. Go to sleep.”
“But
Dad,” I said, “I'm so afraid.” So my dad turned on the light,
sat down on my bed, put his arm around me, and this is what
he said: “George, there are a lot of scary things in life.
You will always be able to find something to worry about.
There will always be fears that get into your head. Most of
those fears are not real. They cannot hurt you. Banshees are
not real. They cannot hurt you.”
“But
Dad,” I said, “can you prove to me that banshees
are not real?” My dad stopped for a minute and said, “No.
I cannot prove that. But here is what I want you to do. Instead
of trying to prove what is not real, I want you to remember
what is real.” “What's real?” I questioned. “Yes,” my dad
said. “This is what's real: I love you. Your mother loves
you. We are right in the next room. We are not going to let
anything happen to you. The minute you call I will be here.
Most importantly you must remember that God loves you. God
is with you always. Wherever you are, God will always protect
you and so you do not have to be afraid. That is what is real.
That is what I want you to think about—not banshees.” With
that, my dad put my head back down on the pillow and turned
off the light. I tried to do what he told me to do. I kept
thinking, “God loves me and my family loves me.” And you know
what? In a few minutes, I was fast asleep.
Now
I learned an important lesson that summer. I learned that
there is power, real power, in believing in God's love and
believing in the love of my family. I learned that I had to
be like the disciples in today's gospel and not think about
the things that were unreal (like Jesus being a ghost), but
think about the things that were real—that Jesus was risen
and was with me always.
This
is what all of us come to celebrate today—all of us. There
will always be scary parts of life. There will always be something
to worry about. There will always be fears creeping into our
heads. But if we can remember what is real, if we can remember
who loves us, we can find peace.
In
a few minutes, we will confirm these young people of our community
in God's love. Then we will invite them to share with us in
the body and blood of the Lord for the first time. That is
real. That is Christ's real presence among us. That is what
all of us must cling to at every time and in every place.
For if we remember what is real, if we remember who loves
us, then we have no reason to be afraid.
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