On Wednesday, along with some of our boys and staff,

I attended the funeral of the mother of one of our year 9 students, Zach de Bono, who tragically lost her battle with cancer last week.

While extremely sad that a woman with 3 young children and a loving husband, had been taken from her family, the funeral service had many positive and uplifting moments.

A good friend of Zach’s mother delivered the eulogy and stated quite clearly from the outset. “We mourn her death, but today we are going to celebrate her life.”

On the front of the programme was a quotation that was broken open during the course of the funeral. “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery, which its why it is called the Present”

The saying “Carpe Diem”….”seize the day”, was also used to describe the woman we mourned but also celebrated.

“Seize the day”. Zach’s mother lived each day to the fullest, and once diagnosed a number of years ago with cancer, lived it even more. Every day counted and that came through in all the speeches.

Cancer was the last thing on her mind prior to being diagnosed. Life is a mystery. We don’t quite know what it is going to throw at us.

As I listened to the story about this woman and how she responded to the news of her cancer, I couldn’t help but think of the Easter message.

The contrast of the sadness and gloom of Good Friday, but then the “alleluia” of Easter Sunday. In the sadness of her death she had left so much good behind, a legacy about to be played out through her husband and her children who have the spirit of their mother that will work through them. So in that sense there was hope, in the middle of sadness.

Could I suggest that our lives are a continual cycle of Good Fridays and Easter Sundays? The Church reminds us of this by instituting the season of Lent to remind us of our mortality, and that we are not bullet proof!!

The reason for the first Good Friday 2000 years ago was that Jesus came to earth to live but also die for us. His ultimate humiliation, betrayal and death was for a reason, namely to save us from our sins but then to rise in triumph, so that when we die, we will rise from death into eternal life to be with God and everyone who loves him.

Scripture had foretold that this is what Jesus would do. However, when the apostles looked in the empty tomb on that Sunday morning they didn’t believe it. In fact, it took a period of time before they actually did believe, and therefore have the courage to begin spreading his message. How he died for us to save us from our sins, how Jesus transforms our sad Good Friday moments to the joy of our Easter Sunday moments.

The victory over sin and death by Jesus rising from the dead and offering us eternal life and happiness with him and all the Saints is the foundation of Christianity.

Could I suggest that one of the biggest Good Friday moments for Zach de Bono’s mother was when she discovered she had cancer. Her Easter Sunday(s) were the way she responded to that. The manner in which she lived her life, which was an inspiration to so many who spoke yesterday.

How do we respond to our Good Fridays? How do we respond when life goes a bit pear shaped as it will inevitably do at some stage??

How will we respond to a failed test?

How will we respond if we are picked on?

How will we respond when teams are named in the next couple of weeks that we miss out on the team we really thought we deserved to get in to?

How will we respond when an injury rules us out for the season?

How will we respond when we are pulled up for being a bully?

Last night I attended a session that some of you were at, and the topic was mental skills. Largely good sportsmen and those talented in the arts attended. The presenter talked of techniques and methods to respond to difficult situations that not only related to high level performance but to life in general, especially in dealing with the lows of life.

He talked of being in the Red, meaning having your thoughts distracted by becoming angry or withdrawn or passive when something doesn’t go to plan.

Contrastingly he talked about being in the blue, a condition we can train ourselves to be in to counter the disappointments in life. Largely that came down to controlling what we can control, and not getting too upset with things out of our control. The selector that didn’t pick you, the bully that wont stop…..etc etc

In other words how do we deal with the Good Fridays in our lives …….we have a choice.

A final thought I will leave you with…..

At the end of his presentation as a parting thought he suggested when we wake up we think of 3 things in our lives that we are grateful for??

It could be that you are grateful for your health, your parents, your mates, the gifts you have, the fresh air we breathe in this country.

Could I suggest as with Zach’s mother, you will go a long way to converting your Good Fridays to your Easter Sundays….

Until next time

Justin Boyle