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Last words

Funeral homily stories

This powerful piece of Victorian poetry from Idylls of the King, by Tennyson, captures the last words of the dying King Arthur. It recognizes change, faith, the power of prayer, and remembrance. "The old order changeth, yielding place to new, And God fulfils himself in many ways, Lest one good custom should corrupt the world. Comfort thyself; what comfort is in me? I have lived my life, and that which I have done May he within himself make pure! But thou, If thou shouldst never see my face again, Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice Rise like a fountain for me night and day."

remembrance death

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Recalling, remembering, and reciting

Funeral homily stories

One death triggers memories of other deaths, particularly family members and close friends of the deceased and the survivors who have also died. Recalling, remembering, and reciting names of other family and friends who have died can be a moving and faith-filled experience. The words of Ecclesiasticus 44 echo the importance of remembering all who have died in faith: "Here is a list of generous men and women whose good works have not been forgotten. Their descendants stand by the covenants; their glory will not fade. Their bodies have been buried in peace, and their name lives on for all generations. The peoples will proclaim their wisdom, the assembly will celebrate their praises."

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The blessing of memory

Funeral homily stories

"The Blessing of memory: It is hard to sing of oneness when our world is not complete, when those who once brought wholeness to our life have gone, and naught but memory can fill the emptiness their passing leaves behind. "But memory can tell us only what we were, in company with those we loved; it cannot help us find what each of us, alone, must now become. Yet no one is really alone; those who live no more echo still within our thoughts and words, and what they did is part of what we have become."

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Homage to our dead

Funeral homily stories

"We do best homage to our dead when we live our lives most fully, even in the shadow of our loss. For each of our lives is worth the life of the whole world; in each one is the breath of the ultimate one. In affirming the one, we affirm the worth of each one whose life, now ended, brought us closer to the source of life, in whose unity no one is ever alone and every life finds purpose." This prayer, from the Jewish tradition, could work as a broad outline for a funeral homily. After the first paragraph, specifics about the deceased could be added. After the second paragraph, specifics about the survivors could be added. And after the last paragraph, the challenge and importance for survivors to continue living and to remember the deceased could be expanded upon.

funeral homilies death

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Christian mysteries

Funeral homily stories

In T.S. Eliot's play Murder in the Cathedral, the archbishop, Thomas Becket, preaches on Christmas morning: ". . . . Beloved, as the World sees, this is to behave in a strange fashion. For who in the World will both mourn and rejoice at once and for the same reason? For either joy will be overborne by mourning, or mourning will be cast out by joy; so it is only in these our Christian mysteries that we can rejoice and mourn at once for the same reason." This part of the sermon captures the human grief and divine joy which accompanies every Christian death, and these words well express this mystery the survivors of a loved one so frequently feel.

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Limit his golf game to nine holes

Funeral homily stories

When Bing Crosby's doctor recommended that the aging crooner limit his golf game to nine holes, he promptly went out and played 18, after which he remarked to his friends in the clubhouse, "That was a great game of golf, fellers," and dropped dead.

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Celebrating those heroic souls

Funeral homily stories

General George Patton was fond of telling his troops that "No bastard ever won a war by dying for his country" but "by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his." So when an old soldier dies--or fades away, as the saying goes--he gets to celebrate with those heroic souls he helped to give the greatest measure.

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We didn't lose the game

Funeral homily stories

"We didn't lose the game," Coach Vince Lombardi once said. "We just ran out of time." Life, like the Big Game, plays by a clock that eventually forecloses on the effort. It is the mark of great people not that they win, but how they play the game.

death time

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I have not failed

Funeral homily stories

"I have not failed," Thomas Edison said at the end of his life. "I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." It is the twists and turns of failure that map the lives of those who succeed. A lost pair of glasses isn't found until the search leads to the last place.

death failure

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Ready to meet his Maker

Funeral homily stories

Sir Winston Churchill remarked upon drawing near to death that he was ready to meet his Maker. "Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me," he went on, "is another matter." For people of faith, the Great Encounter at the end of life is a mutual delight.

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