The Last Word

Allowing Jesus to have the last word in prayer

04/09/2023

Mt 28:1-10 After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, approached, rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothing was white as snow. The guards were shaken with fear of him and became like dead men. Then the angel said to the women in reply, “Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified. He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ Behold, I have told you.” Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples. And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”

One of the greatest challenges in all marriages is mastering good couple communication. And perhaps the key that unlocks the door of dialogue is figuring out who get the last word. Have you ever felt like you always needed to get the last word, meaning win the argument? One male friend of mine who has been married for 20 years told me his secret of couple communication. He said, “I always get the last word whenever my wife and I argue or discuss something. And those words are ‘Yes dear’.”

Did you ever see the hilarious movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”? The night before the wedding the nervous bride is so scared that she wants to back out of the wedding. Her mother gives her some sage advice, saying: “Always remember dear: the man is the head of the home. But the wife is the neck, and the neck can turn the head any way she wants.” In other words, the woman should get the last word in couple communication, as she points her husband in the right direction. Who gets the last word is important.

Today we celebrate Easter Sunday and the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. And today’s feast shows us in a very special sense that Jesus is the One who always gets the last word. How so? Well, because in the eternal argument over sin and death – the only two things ever worth arguing about because everything else is trivial – Jesus is the last word on the subject, namely, that life has conquered death and grace has vanquished sin.

One of my favorite Scripture passages is Rm 5:20, where St. Paul notes this ultimately victory, saying: “Where sin abounds, there grace abounds all the more.” And by the way, didn’t we see “sin abound” on Good Friday, when it seemed like death had gotten the “last word” when it crucified our Savior. But today the tables are turned. And in a beautiful way we see how the women turn the heads of men to the empty tomb as they announce that Jesus has risen.

Have you ever noticed how women are always trying to turn men’s heads to Jesus? How many of you men are here today because a woman turned your head and said, “Honey, maybe we should go to Mass today because it’s Easter.” In fact, Jesus even gives women this specific command to turn men’s heads when he says in today’s gospel: “Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” Before Jesus gave the apostles the “great commission” to preach the gospel to all the nations, Jesus gave women the great commission to turn the apostles’ heads to Jesus.

But really good women don’t turn men’s heads so that the women get the last word, but rather so that Jesus can get the last word. And how does Jesus always get the last word? Well, we read in another one of my favorite Scripture passages, John 1:14, “And the Word became flesh, and made his dwelling among us.” That is, Jesus cannot help but be the last word because he is the only Word that lasts because he is the eternal Word of the Father. Wise women know that Jesus always gets the last word. Wise women know that it is important to get the last word, and that Word should be Jesus.

Here is another sense in which the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday is the “last word”. Each of the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John begin their last chapter with the account of the Resurrection. Matthew’s last chapter is 28 (which we heard today), Mark’s last chapter is 16, Luke’s last chapter is 24, and John’s last chapter is 20. Incidentally, there are 21 chapters in John, but chapter 20 is clearly the conclusion, whereas chapter 21 is essentially an epilogue, wrapping up loose ends.

Now it is true that the chapters and verses of the New Testament were added in the Middle Ages. Nonetheless, it is clear that each gospel culminates and concludes in the Resurrection scene. As the French say the Resurrection is the “dénouement” of the story. The chapters and verses, therefore, only underscore what is obvious to any attentive reader of the Bible, namely, the “last word” of the four gospels is Jesus, the Word of God, as he rises victorious from the grave. Jesus always gets the last word because he is the only Word that lasts.

My friends, in your relationship with Jesus – especially when you pray – who normally gets the last word? Venerable Fulton Sheen once noted how differently we pray than Samuel prayed in the Old Testament. When God called him at night, young Samuel went to the Temple and reported, “Speak, Lord, your servant is listening.” But most of us go to pray and say: “Listen, Lord, your servant is speaking.” And if we do bother to give God the last word, we expect God to say “Yes dear.”

How much better was the attitude of prayer of St. John Vianney. This is how he described his prayer: “I walk into the church at night, and I sit down before the Blessed Sacrament. And I look at Jesus, and he looks at me.” In other words, St. John Vianney did not speak at all in prayer. Why not? Well, because he gave Jesus not only the “last word”, but ALL the words. He figured what Jesus had to say to him was infinitely more interesting than what he had to say to his Lord. That attitude might also be a good way to approach couple communication: what my spouse has to say to me may be far more interesting than what I have to say to her. Who gets the last word is important.

Praised be Jesus Christ!