Oct. 6, 2009: Funeral of "Chester" Thinh Hoang
How do you measure success of a man's life? It depends on how you measure your success. Sometimes we measure success by what kind of car he drives. But if you were to see an elderly man walking with a limp on the Government Street right in front of this church going somewhere, you wouldn't think that man accomplished much financially. Here in America, we drive a car even when we’re going down the street. So to see someone walking we surmise they really don’t have any money.
Sometimes we measure man’s success by what he carries in his pockets. When someone takes out a wallet filled with many credit cards and bank cards, we guess that person can afford many things. But if you were to find not a fat wallet but a half-eaten donut from a Sunday mass, we would think that person didn’t have money.
Many of us believe that the goal of our life is to build a kingdom for ourselves on this earth, and so we measure our success by visible things, where we live, what we drive, and what we carry in our pockets or purses. When we lie down in a casket, even when we have a car key in our pocket, we no longer can drive that nice car in our garage. When we lie down in a casket, even when we have a fat wallet filled with credit cards and cash, we can’t use it to pay for the ticket to the next world, for where we are going, they don’t accept Visa, Master Card, American Express, or cash. We’ll tell the gate agent, “Don’t you recognize this Visa Card? I have a credit line up to $25,000?” And the gate agent will say, “Your money is no good here.”
The irony is that when Chester arrives at the gate and the gate agent will say, “So what are you going to pay to get in?” Chester will say, “Well, I don’t have a car, but I walked with a limp to and from Our Lady of Mercy to attend daily mass. I suffered from lots of pain from my diabetes and congestive heart and kidney troubles, but I often stayed there 2 to 3 hours praying for my four sons and two daughters, praying that my grand children will be healthy.” Chester will also say, “Well, I don’t have a fat wallet or cash to show you that I was successful in the world. But I do have in my pocket a half-eaten donut that I got after Sunday mass which I was going to eat on my walk back home.” And the gate agent will hold up that half-eaten donut and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!”
