There are a good number of jokes involving Saint Peter and the pearly gates of heaven; and, as far as I am aware, Joe Hilkert knew them all. Perhaps he told you one of them (two or three times). Joe knew how to laugh, and it was hard not to laugh when Joe was laughing. Joe also knew tears - tears of joy, of sorrow, of repentance, and tears of deep gratitude. More importantly, Joe understood what we heard in the first reading from the prophet Isaiah:
On this mountain the Lord...will destroy the veil that veils all people.
The web that is woven over all nations. He will destroy death forever.
The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces;
The reproach of his people he will remove…
This mountain was Mount Zion, where the Jewish people worshipped in Jerusalem at the temple, and the veil refers to the curtain that separated the people from the holiest place on earth, the Holy of Holies, where the presence of God was among his people. This veil separated the people because sin separated them from God. By extension, the veil reminds us that our sin brought the shadow of death which has been the reproach of all humankind everywhere on earth throughout time.
Joe knew that Jesus Christ was the Son of God sent to remove the reproach of sin and destroy the veil of death by living and suffering and dying in the flesh. But Jesus, though fully human, was fully God. He did not sin nor did he remain in the grave. Rising on the third day, Jesus Christ brought power and redemption to the human experience and to every person who would call on God faithfully.
For the Jews who had become followers of Christ, Mount Zion was no longer a hill in Jerusalem, but the Church, the city of God with Jesus Christ as its founder and head. Baptized into the Body of Christ, Joe came to know and love God here at St. Joseph’s. He also learned to love the Church, that is, his brothers and sisters in Christ, beginning with his parents and siblings, friends and classmates, and the sisters who taught at St Joseph School. His cherished bride, Pat and their four children, their spouses and his 13 grandchildren. Did he love you perfectly? No, but he did love you, and I expect he did what he could to share what he learned by example.
It was evident that Joe loved Christ and His Church, and was especially fond of the first disciple, the Blessed Virgin Mary. We know he was not unduly outspoken about his Catholic Faith in public, yet it was hard to miss the large crucifix he wore about his neck and that one well-known sign in his shop which read, “Eternity: Smoking or non-smoking?” Indeed, this was in character with Joe’s penchant for jokes, yet in a small way, Joe was asking a very important question of his customers - a question he was asking himself.
As St. Paul told the Romans:
We shall all stand before the judgement seat of God; [and] each of us shall give an account of himself to God.
There are many who have not given this reality enough consideration. In this post-Christian age, it’s not fashionable to speak in absolutes. Joe understood, however, that whether they were fashionable or not, God had loved us enough to reach out to us and tell us his absolutes; and so, Joe lived his life accordingly. He knew nobody was perfect, including himself, yet he did not use that as an excuse. He was not too proud to acknowledge his sins and confess them, turning to God for forgiveness and the grace to do better.
He knew that preparing himself for the moment of judgment was not something that we can knowingly put off. Baptized into Christ, he had an obligation to live out his relationship with God on a daily basis. The most important way in which Joe prepared himself centered around this altar which presented to Joe the grace to strengthen his faith and to be more like Christ.
In the Gospel from the Apostle John. Jesus makes an amazing declaration and and promise: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven…. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I shall raise him up on the last day.” With these words, Jesus makes clear that he has come to save not just our souls, but our bodies as well - that God loves all of who we are and that our bodies have a role in his plan of salvation.
When he made his claim even more emphatic and literal by saying “my flesh is true food and my blood true drink,” many of his disciples walked away and he let them go. Even though they believed he might be the Son of God, they could not bring themselves to believe that he could do as he promised in this dialogue.
Eventually, at his last supper, on the night before he died, Jesus fulfilled his promise from the Gospel of John. Taking bread in his hands, he said, “this is my body” and taking a cup of wine, he said, “this is my blood.” Miraculously and mysteriously, Jesus held himself in his own hands and offered himself as food and drink to his followers for the first time, then commissioned his apostles, and therefore, His Church, to do the same in memory of Him.
That which was too confounding for the early disciples did not trouble Joe Hilkert, who gazed upon the bread and wine offered on this altar week after week. He knew that in this sacrificial meal was the true presence of Jesus Christ whom who could do as He promised; and so, Joe looked forward to being raised up body and soul on the last day.
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On a few occasions, Joe enumerated to me all the blessings he was grateful for. From here, I can see many of them. (Especially you, Pat.) He also wondered why he was so blessed, while others weren’t. Given the same circumstances, however, not everyone would be as grateful as Joe was. Ultimately, it is a matter of perspective and grace; for, when faced with heart bypass surgery, and finally leukemia, he allowed both of these events to transform him into the man God wanted him to be. He was not bitter; rather, open to the eternal plan of God, he embraced them and learned to embrace God more because of them.
Joe could do this because he trusted God to be faithful to His promises - promises like the ones we read from Isaiah, Saint Paul, and Saint John; therefore, Joe knew the consolation of a God who wiped away his tears and who sent Jesus Christ to remove the reproach of sin and destroy the veil of death by living and suffering and dying in the flesh. And Joe was deeply grateful.
He knew that Jesus, though fully human, was fully God, who rose on the third day in order to bring power and redemption to every human experience and to every person who would believe in Him. And Joe was deeply grateful.
Knowing that Jesus had the power to give us His flesh to eat and His blood to drink, Joe faithfully sat in the pew wearing a dapper suit or stood here to help serve the body and blood of Christ to his brothers and sisters. And he was deeply grateful.
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In the end, some turn to God in fear, begging forgiveness, hoping it’s not too late to repent. Some turn to God in anger, because things didn’t turn out the way they wanted or imagined them to be. Still others, like Joe, knowing that God can raise them up on the last day, turn to God in love and trust, and say, “I am deeply grateful.”
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