Death of a young man

This is a Homily for the Memorial Service of young man who died tragically in the last few weeks.
Our human nature demands that we are all deeply saddened
at the death of a young person
We have very mixed emotions about any tragic circumstances
And these range from:
Deep guilt at our own failing
to a declamation that he was an adult and so it has nothing to do with us
Both of these have an element of truth
But I want to suggest that neither of these extremes
is where we should focus our energy


Neither Deep guilt nor refusal to accept responsibility is where we need to do the grieving
Rather we might usefully think what this tragedy teaches us
about the way we should live our life
from now on.
Life, however wasteful, is not without purpose
Death, however tragic, is never without meaning.
We know this because the prime focus of Christianity
is the death of a young man
not much older than the young man we remember today
and Christians believe, it is this death
the death of Jesus,
that gives to human life
ultimate meaning and purpose.
Doing the work
Each of us will need to do the work
to make sense of this particular tragedy
What is its meaning and truth for us?
How am I going to live my life after I leave this place today?
Will it be by remembering how fragile human life is and trying to take care of each other a little better?
Will it be by keeping in touch with those who are ours who we find really difficult?
Or you may need to think a little harder about your personal circumstances
We can be indulgent and think it is about us
and feel guilty
or feel nothing
Then this death will truly have been vain and empty
or we can allow this death to change us
to make us more responsive
more loving
less judgmental
less selfish.

All deaths are sad
No deaths are meaningless.
What does this death
this sad, sad death
seek to draw from you today?.