On That Day

6th Sunday Easter – On That Day

The cemetery plot on the hillside overlooking the valley below is one that immediately caught my eye. It was well-cared for, with planted flowers and painted rocks arranged carefully along the base of the gravestone. Even more surprising was the rosary etched into the stone with the photo of an eighth grade boy, clad in his township baseball team uniform, smiling at anyone who took the time to stop and pray.

Ryan Ferris: 1984-1998. Only 14 years old. 

Thoughts of Ryan stayed with me beyond that visit, and so I searched his name later that evening, wondering if I would find an obituary in the local newspaper archives. In so doing, I stumbled upon more than that: there were countless articles about the hero teen who died while saving a sibling in a fire that has been determined to be arson. Firefighters could hear his final words as they tried to rescue him: “Hail Mary, full of grace …”

Ryan was praying as he was dying. His final words were a cry to our Blessed Mother: “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen.”

Knowing Ryan was praying these very words after having sacrificed himself for the sake of his brother changes everything about that prayer for me. They are no longer just prayer words. They are a way of life.

Peter states it boldly in his letter (our second reading): “Beloved, sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts.” Honestly, that says it all. Christ must be our everything. The reason why we get-up in the morning. The reason why we love and serve and sacrifice. He should be at the center of what we watch and listen to. He should be at the heart of our conversations and the forefront of our thoughts, even if those words and thoughts and acts don’t necessarily proclaim Him in an obvious, street-preacher sort of way.

When Christ is at the center, everything else falls into place according to the Divine Will of the Father.  When Christ is in our heart, he guides everything through the gift of His Spirit.

I’m very taken by Jesus’ words in this Gospel, words that were spoken at the Last Supper as he was preparing to sacrifice everything for us. He offers us the roadmap for keeping Him at the core of who we are, and it is clear that there is no other way than this if we really want to abide with the Lord, both here and hereafter.

First, look at the gentle way he asks us to be in true relationship with Him, almost as one who courts his beloved: “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Immediately, our mind rushes to the Big Ten which, of course, are sacred and important to follow. But Jesus’ commandments were expressed a little differently than those on the sacred stone tablets. His command was this:Love God. Love your neighbor. And as I have done, so must you also do.  To live in His Love – to sanctify him as Lord of our hearts – we must begin to radiate a love that forgives, that serves, that dies-to-self, that sacrifices for the other, willingly and wholesomely. It is a love that doesn’t allow oneself to become a bitter doormat in such acts of service, but one whose love comes solely from the Spirit.

Yes, the Spirit: the Trinity member of Whom I often forget to pay attention. This very Spirit of God – the love between Father and Son – is the Advocate of Truth that our Savior promised us for all time, the one who remains with us and prays in us and stays within us throughout our lives, especially when we are in a state of grace.

It is the Spirit who opens our hearts to see Christ in others and to accept Christ in our own hearts. It is the same Spirit who forms our consciences to live in Truth, who helps us confess when we sin, and who prays within us, especially in those times when our Cross is heavy.

It was the Spirit of God alive in the heart of Ryan Ferris who gently steered his to call out to his Blessed Mother as he laytrapped and dying.

The Spirit of God is Life. The Spirit of God is Breath. The Spirit of God is ours if we are bold enough to ask for Him to come upon us and reign within us. But will we? As an individual disciple? As a family? As a parish community? As Church? With Pentecost only two Sundays away, it’s perhaps the most important question we should be praying with right now. Do I really want the Advocate to reign in every part of my life, especially my heart?  Will I live in the Father’s Will?

There is one final word from Christ in this farewell message of His that stays with me, one that I have prayed with all week – and on the surface, it seems rather unimportant. Jesus says: “On that day, you will realize I am in the Father and you are in me and I in you.”

On that day. What day? Was he speaking of Calvary? Resurrection Sunday? The first Pentecost? On what day will “we see him live and you will live?”

In truth, I think the answer is found in this thought: we begin really living – truly living in Christ – when we invite and accept the Spirit into everything we do TODAY. It’s more than just getting Confirmed (although that is the sacred gateway). Rather, it is a daily invite: one that asks God’s Spirit to complete me, to help me love sacrificially, and to keep Jesus’ commands as He asks us to do.

When the Spirit comes – when we invite Him – then we arereally alive in Christ. Then we see the Father in everyone and everything that is good and holy, as well as in the crosses and suffering that we are invited to carry for love of Him and others.

The Spirit of God can really change our hearts – at this very moment – because He is in us and remains with us, as long as we are willing to get to know Him, to invite Him.

I can’t help but think 14-year-old Ryan Ferris was exactly where Christ challenges us all to be on our journeys of faith. Nearly 30 years ago, a young man thought more of his family than himself, and was willing to sacrifice everything to save someone he loved.

Nearly thirty years ago, a young man who became the tragic victim of a horrible crime spent his final moments praying to Jesus through Mary, perhaps not only for himself but for his family, his parish, and the soul of the one who committed such a heinous act.

His final words, prayed in and through the Spirit: “Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.”

To Jesus through His Mother – the very words printed on Ryan’s headstone.  A beautiful reality on this Mother’s Day weekend.



The Spirit came, and Christ was truly present: on that day.