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Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls’ Day), Cycle A

02 Nov 2014

SUNDAY SUMMARY Wisdom 3:1-9 The just ones can be supremely confident that they will abide with God. Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 No evil can touch the one shepherded to safety by the Lord. Romans 5:5-11 or Romans 6:3-9 The just one dies to rescue the unjust. In this we have cause to rejoice. John 6:37-40 (or other readings from 668 or 1011-1016) Jesus receives all who make their way toward him.

Wisdom 3:1-9 Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 Romans 5:5-11 Romans 6:3-9 John 6:37-40

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Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed (All Souls’ Day), Cycle A

02 Nov 2008

SUNDAY SUMMARY Wisdom 3:1-9 The souls of the just are at peace, because God’s grace and mercy are with the holy ones. Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 Even the dark valley holds no fear for those who follow the Shepherd of Souls. Romans 5:5-11 or 6:3-9 We will not be disappointed if we trust in the love God has proven for us. John 6:37-40 God wills that nothing given to Christ Jesus will be lost.

Wisdom 3:1-9 Psalm 23:1-3a, 3b-4, 5, 6 Romans 5:5-11 Romans 6:3-9 John 6:37-40

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Trust in the unseen

Funeral, Sacrament-based, Holy Day, Holiday, Special Occasion - Sample homilies to be adapted for your use

Readings: Wisdom 3:1-9; Psalm 23:1-3, 4, 5-6; Romans 8:31b-35, 37-39; John 14:1-6 WHAT A MYSTERY DEATH IS. Even when death comes close, as it has in the loss of our dear N., we are left struggling to find feelings that fit and thoughts that make sense. When death comes suddenly and unexpectedly, it crushes us with its cruel completion, and the strings of our world are cut short. Even when death is welcomed, as it is with those who have suffered long the agony of disease or carried the burdens of infirmity far past human dignity, life's end is like a movie winding up without the theater lights coming on. We stumble in the darkness trying to find our way through what just happened. So with this tumble of thoughts and feelings we come to church because church is where we celebrate the things we don't understand and nurture our hope in a whole world beyond what we see. We call this place God's house, and that's appropriate because you're all here. We can't see God, but we believe that the real, living presence of God, revealed to us in Jesus Christ, is in you, the members of Christ's Body. That's a pretty awesome leap of faith, but it is the foundation of what we believe. Christ took a full share of our humanity, being born of a woman, living life, and suffering death under the burden of almost every human weakness. It is this reality that we hold sacred in every human life. When we brought N.'s body into the church, we welcomed him with water, the visible sign of his baptism. We remembered that at the beginning of his journey, N. received God's gift of eternal life, so that just as Christ shared in N.'s death, so would N. share the Lord's resurrection. This white covering on N.'s body reminds us that his baptism was for the forgiveness of sins. So no one can bring a charge against N., and nothing in his life can separate him from the love of God that he has in Jesus Christ. And this candle was lighted to remind us of N.'s mission in life and the purpose for which we all live: to be lights in the world, to shine the brightness of compassion, care, and forgiveness on the people God sends to us. To the degree that N. lived out his mission, you came to experience God's love for you through him. The grace of God given to him, he gave to you, and you in turn gave it back to him. The hidden love of God is shown through all of us, both in the giving and the receiving. When we look at a tree growing in the forest, we see only half of it, the part above the ground. But the tree reaches below the surface into the unseen world, connecting with the source of its life. In the same way, we see only the visible half of what we believe, the outward signs. But we trust in what we don't see and we hope in what lies beyond our understanding." Because this mission of being lights for the world is not easy and we often fail, we are served at this table the Body and Blood of Christ. Though we see only bread and wine, our faith is that it is our communion with God, the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in us. It is God's pledge of eternal life and the forgiveness of our sins. Those are the things we believe about ourselves and God, about N. and God. When we look at a tree growing in the forest, we see only half of it, the part above the ground. But the tree reaches below the surface into the unseen world, connecting with the source of its life. In the same way, we see only the visible half of what we believe, the outward signs. But we trust in what we don't see and we hope in what lies beyond our understanding. We've only experienced the outward half of N.'s death, the part we can see, so his passing away seems to us to be the end of his life. But today we remember that he is at peace; his life is in the hands of God. We believe beyond our understanding that in those last moments when death approached N., the Eternal Savior made good on his promise. When N.'s body could no longer sustain the gift of life given to him X years ago, Jesus appeared with an eternal place for him to dwell. We will leave here today renewed in our hope that Christ joins us along the way, is in our lives, and speaks what we know to be true in our hearts. We will remember, too, that God offers eternal life to all and the forgiveness of sins. Finally, we will remember that N. is alive and on the last day we will see him again.

Authors Father Paul Boudreau

funeral all manner of death mystery of death Wisdom 3:1-9 Psalm 23:1-3, 4, 5-6 Romans 8:31b-35, 37-39 John 14:1-6

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A life measured by the plumb line of the gospel

Funeral, Sacrament-based, Holy Day, Holiday, Special Occasion - Sample homilies to be adapted for your use

Funeral: Death of a parent who has lived a long time Readings: Wisdom 3:1-9; Revelation 14:13; Matthew 11:25-30 The plumb line of the gospel, like a carpenter’s plumb line, is the measure, the standard by which we are judged to be true or not. How do we measure up? We stand beside the word of God we hear today and allow it to keep us true as we say farewell to [N.] and thank God for [his/her] life. The first reading from the book of Wisdom can take us aback. It calls us who grieve the death of N. to be an affliction, “foolish.” But the word of God is not calling us names. It is showing us that we’re out of alignment. Why? Because from God’s point of view, the dead are at peace because “they are in the hand of God.” It’s an instance where, as the prophet Isaiah says, our ways are not God’s ways. We are made true again, like a plumb line, in the book of Revelation, John's vision of the end time. It’s another “course correction.” Shakespeare may say, sadly, that “the good [that people] do is oft interred with their bones,” but the Word of God has a different take on it: “Blessed are the dead . . . for their [good] works accompany them.” So this [morning] we honor this [man/woman] whom we love, who raised us, fed and clothed us, taught and supported us. And in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus addresses people who are weary, who perhaps find their long life a heavy burden to carry. To them, we hear Jesus speak some of the most tender and gentle of words: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest. My yoke is easy, and my burden light.” We all know that old age brings its burdens. Yet advanced age can give us perspective. Native American Black Elk spoke of “this high hill of my old age.” For a moment imagine Mary, the mother of Jesus, no longer young and beautiful as we always see her in art, but more like your elderly mother—perhaps bent, needing help to walk, frail and wrinkled? Can we see the Blessed Virgin Mary and your mother sitting together on a hill, two old women, two mothers, chatting, laughing and crying together from the high hill of their old age, and thanking God? “Come to me,” Jesus says and we think of these things as N. passes from our midst into the presence of God where [he/she] is neither alone nor empty-handed. They carry our hearts and the treasure of a life well-lived, to be welcomed by Christ who gives them rest. So this [morning] we honor this [man/woman] whom we love, who raised us, fed and clothed us, taught and supported us; who befriended us, comforted us and prayed for us; who made sacrifices for us, who challenged us, and perhaps irritated us or disappointed us at times; this [man/woman] whom we have prayed for, whom we've watch fade slowly from among us, whom we accompanied with our love and tears and prayers as they gave back to God that first breath which God breathed into them long ago. We honor this [man/woman] by allowing their love of God and Jesus to undo our foolishness, to help us, again and again, to grasp what really matters—in Saint Paul’s words, “whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious.” We honor [him/her] when we look for blessing even where it is not readily visible, and when we allow ourselves to be guided by faith. We entrust N. to the God [he/she] loved; we honor them by allowing the word of God regularly to upset us, to overturn our narrow vision of life. We take their example when we hold ourselves to that plumb line of the gospel, when we forgive, when we love our enemies and wash one another’s feet. We honor them when we learn to love one another, and when we not only admire N.’s life, but when—as Jesus insists—we “go and do likewise.”

Authors Father Larry Janowski O.F.M.

funeral death of a parent Wisdom 3:1-9 Revelation 14:13 Matthew 11:25-30

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