Mass of Christian Burial for Angelo Zawaydeh

Recently, I read a story that moved me. A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection from Picasso to Raphael. They often would sit together at night and admire the great works of art. 

When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son courageously enlisted and went to war. He died in battle while rescuing another soldier. His father was notified, and he deeply grieved the death of his only son. 

About a month after his son's death, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said, "Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and while he was carrying me back to safety, a bullet struck him the heart and he died instantly." 

The young soldier continued, "He always spoke of your love for art. I have brought you something I painted. I know it isn't much, but I think your son would have wanted you to have it." 

The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. "Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It's a gift," replied the soldier. 

What I would like us to keep in mind today is a simple yet utterly profound word. It is not words like, 'ultimate Sacrifice' that we associate with dear Angelo, and which symbolize for us Christians the Ultimate sacrifice of Christ but the word, 'HOPE.' That also for us Christians give us the sense of what the Resurrection of Christ had given to us. 

No, we do not know how many lives Angelo had saved: American lives or Iraqi lives. No, we don’t not know how many lives he touched when he was at school and high school with his many friends or with his many cousins. Only God now knows. But perhaps one day the family will receive some people who captured the right portrait of Angelo, and they will tell their story of this brave young man. This is the hope that I look at: Angelo did not go to kill. Angelo chose to enlist so as to protect lives and to bring a better life to the Iraqi people. As an Arab-American he did what he believed it should be the right thing to do: to help bring peace, justice, and prosperity to people. 

“Angelo believed that what he was doing was the right thing,'' his mother and father have said. ``He didn't believe that what America was doing was the right thing anymore,” Angelo also told them.  He thought we could let them (the Iraqis) fight their own battles from now on over there. He said we did not need anymore to be over there. This is the truth about this young Angelo. His death is telling us that enough is enough. His death is asking us how many more should die. We need to stop killings. Death should stop. 

What is the most outstanding example of a parent who mourned her child? Look with me to the Blessed Mother, Mary, for comfort. She understands; truly she does. Mary held her son Jesus’ body in her arms, and buried him. Mary is now here to hold us all in her arms: the father, the mother, the sisters and brother, Grandmother, the uncles, aunts, cousins and friends, Mary holds us all as she hold her dead son Jesus, she weeps with us and tells us that this is not the end.

Yes, this is not the end. You named your son Angelo who means angel, and then believe that he is raised in Christ, he is there with Jesus and Mary. He is there with St. Joseph whose feast day we celebrated just some days ago. His is your angel in heaven continuing to love you and care for you. This is all about hope. He is your in heaven and you gave him a name: Angelo, my angel.

In his talks Jesus brings us the hope for our salvation. He tells us that all will be made new when pain, sorrow, loss, and death will no longer affect us. We need to hope and pray that really pain, sorrow, wars, hate, loss and death will stop to affect our lives. God created us to give life and not to take lives, to be instruments of peace and love, to build a paradise on earth and not other wise. 

We must believe that it is possible to hope, and we must work to achieve it.  We long to be a living Christian community of believers where love is our law and not weapons invented only to kill. 

This is the challenge of the Gospel that we read: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are they who mourn, blessed are the meek, blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the clean of heart, blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.”  

Let us be these blessed people as we call, hope, and pray for our troops in Iraq to come back home and for the Iraqis to have peace, independence, and prosperity.

--Father Labib Kobti