- by: Rev. Patrick O'Dea. -

 

Tonight, we are celebrating a Requiem Mass for our loved ones who have died. We deeply feel the void that their passing has made in our lives. However, all three of our scripture readings this evening knit beautifully together into one message that acts as a healing balm to our troubled hearts.

In the Gospel reading (John 6: 37-40), we read about the most important promise God makes to his people. In that reading the Lord says: "For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I shall raise him up on the last day."

When God's "Good News" message in this Gospel is read in conjunction with the words from the Prophet Isaiah in the First Reading (Isaiah 25:6-9), we get a better glimpse of God's promise.

The Prophet Isaiah tells us that God will "swallow up" death --- he will lift the shroud that enfolds us all, and wipe away all tears from our eyes. In this passage, Isaiah compares life after death to a mountain where the Lord has prepared a banquet of the best meats and the finest wines for all those who believe in him and trust in his word.

And, finally, it is in our second reading, from 1 John (chapter 4: 7-16), that the Lord provides us with his invitation and direction to help us to find our way to that banquet at our journey's end. God sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to personally deliver that invitation to us here on earth. It is an invitation that appears to have only one word spelled on it: "Love." Does God have to say anything more? That word sums up his message, reminding us of how much we are valued. Love is also what knits us together and makes us one with God.

Love is our link to the past. It is our link to those who cared for us and who have passed on to God before us. Love is what links us to the future and what gives hope to those of us who remain here on earth. Love, indeed, is what links us to the dead.

Love is why God created us. Love is why God sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to earth to atone for our sins. Love is why Jesus willingly sacrificed himself on the cross, suffered and died. Love of God is what raised Jesus up. Love is why God sent the Holy Spirit into the world to help strengthen us, give us courage, and to inspire us as we journey to the Kingdom. God's love will raise us up, too.

God invites us to appreciate and treasure this gift; yet, it demands that we link more to Christ and walk in his footsteps. We are called to remember and live out the two greatest commandments he passed on to us: to return love to God and to love others as God loves them; to love ourselves as we should. In doing so, we will respect what God has created and will live in closer communion with him.

These directives from God on finding our way may seem simple enough. Yet, love can, and will, be very demanding. Why? Because it calls us to action. It calls us to respond to others in the example of Jesus Christ. In doing this, we will have to stretch ourselves all the more: to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to give shelter to the stranger, to care for the sick, to protect the vulnerable, to visit the prisoner. We are to forgive and to allow ourselves to be forgiven. In doing so, we will appreciate more the image of God in us and others.

In the reading from 1 John (Chapter 4: 7-16), it is said, "Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God, because God is love." Further, in the same passage, "Whoever lives in love lives in God and God in him." The sacrifices made for us by those who have gone before us and by those for whom we pray this evening, are examples of living in love as Jesus Christ has taught us. Those sacrifices are also a testimony to the love that they held in their hearts for all of us. I am sure that each of you could tell wonderful stories about your loved ones, those persons named in the Book of Remembrance in our chapel, or those remembered in your minds and hearts this evening. Stories of how they helped you to grow in body, wisdom, spirit, or how they served their local communities and/or church communities. Some stories may reflect pain. Perhaps some suffered more than expected in this life, and their suffering touched us in some way. Each of these stories, perhaps in some small way, might chronicle for us the blessings that God granted to our loved ones for having made those sacrifices, for having walked in the way of God, no matter how imperfect they were.

How great is God's love? I thought of this, recently, when someone mentioned that perhaps the best thing about God's love is that you will never see attached to it a message which reads, "Use up before such and such a date." God's love has no expiration date. This is because his love never expires.

Many of you, tonight, hold photographs of your loved ones in your hands. Their faces are before you. Others may have a mental picture or memory of your loved ones. Nonetheless, all your loved ones are present here tonight, in your presence to them. Would you say that your love for them has expired? What about them? Would they say the same to you?

I, too, have brought some photographs and holy cards to this liturgy; one is of my dad; one is a picture of an aunt who gave me my chalice; one is of a young child who died in an accident; another is a picture of a young man who committed suicide (I officiated at his funeral because his family could not find a priest who knew him); I could not abandon him or his family. In all of these lives, God informs us that no matter who we are, our lives are important to him, more than even we can imagine. There lives are also important to those who loved them in this life.

Denis Robideau, a member of our parish choir, and the person who first spoke with me about having a Requiem Mass at Newman, shared with me a wonderful story about his late father, Henry, who died recently at the age of 93 years old! Henry's wife, Gertie, lives California, and Denis mentioned his parents were married for 70 years, yet knew each other for 75 years. Following Henry's death, his family gathered, as most families do, to pack things and to go through personal possessions. In doing so, they found a sealed letter with the words, "To Be Opened in the Future", written across it. His wife was asked what she might like to do with the envelope and she asked that it be opened. The letter was directed to her. She gave permission for it to be read. Henry wrote:

"To my wife, Gert, with all my love. When I found you in the spring of my life, my thoughts and fancy turned to love. But now as we approach the setting sun, viewing the sunset in its God-made glory, my mind goes back to yesterday. When I think of the years that have passed, I become more aware of how fortunate I am to have had you by my side -- to love, and help me maintain a sense of balance, to keep me on the straight and narrow and pull me back when I seemed to have lost my way. Now, in the autumn of life's way, it is sweet to know I still have you to love and that you love me, too. I love you, Henry."

Denis estimates that his father wrote this letter around the time of his parent's 65 wedding anniversary. If indeed love can last over 75 years here on earth, it is not difficult to imagine that love will last well beyond the grave?

So, tonight, in this Requiem Mass, as we celebrate the passing of our loved ones through God's heavenly gates, into the holy city of Jerusalem, I would like to leave you with two final thoughts. My first thought is that just as we are now praying for the souls of those who have gone before us, you can rest assured that they are here in spirit with us tonight and praying for us. My second thought is to be happy in the knowledge that we shall all meet again someday and be reunited with our loved ones in God's heavenly home.

Eternal life, heaven, is not something we often think of. Yet, it is God's final gift to us, achieved through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It is difficult to imagine heaven yet we are invited to know it is the place in which we shall be with God and all our loved ones. Imagine the homecoming and reunion that will be! Perhaps, like in the words of the old Negro spiritual, all will be singing as people come to meet each other. "Going home, going home, I'm a going home. It's not far, just close by, though an open door. Work's all done, cares laid by, real life's just begun. Mother's there expecting me, Father's waiting too, lots of folks, and gathered there the friend I knew. I'm a going home." God will most certainly have the final word.

May God bless you all and may he grant you peace this night. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

 

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