July 29, 2001

One of the most popular and longest running game shows on television is called JEOPARDY. Six categories of answers are represented and the object of the game is to come up with the questions that properly coincide with the answers. The contestant who comes up with the most correct answers wins.

There are similarities between life and the game of JEOPARDY. Just as the correct questions score big in JEOPARDY, so they score big in life.

During the Second World War, Martin Gray was a prisoner of war in a Warsaw concentration camp. He survived that horrendous ordeal and rebuilt his life. He married a beautiful woman and the two of them raised a family. All went well with Martin until one fateful day when his wife and children went hiking in a forested area not too far from home. Someone had apparently started a fire that quickly spread, and it wasn't long before Gray's wife and children were trapped and succumbed to the smoke and flames.

Martin was distraught and almost pushed to the breaking point by this added tragedy that had struck his life. People urged him to demand an inquiry to determine who was responsible for the fire. Instead, he chose to put his energy into a movement to protect nature from future fires. He explained that an inquiry and an investigation would only focus upon the past, on issue of pain, sorrow, and blame. He wanted to focus on the future.

In essence, Gray could have asked a lot of questions after the tragedy. He could have asked: "WHY ME?" Who was responsible for the fire? Who can I blame? Who can I sue? He could have asked, "Why do bad things keep happening to me? Why did God do this to me?" But, he knew that al those questions would only lead to sadness and bitterness, and thirst for vengeance. He chose to ask different questions. He asked: "Now that this has happened, what can I do? How can I rebuild my life? How can I make something good come from this awful tragedy?" By asking those "correct questions," he could move on with his life and prevent the tragedy from continuing to emit its poison.

In our Gospel today, we find the statement from Jesus: "Ask and you will receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened." He is informing us that not only should we not be afraid to ask questions and seek answers, but also if we do so in a positive spirit, they may well bear rich rewards. Martin Gray's asking of empowering questions following his tragedy rewarded him with a life free from the torment of bitterness and remorse.

SO THE QUESTION: WHAT MIGHT BE EXAMPLES OF CORRECT QUESTIONS SCORING BIG IN LIFE?

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