Mass of Remembrance – Homily

Mass of Remembrance
Wisdom 3:1-9
Psalm 23
Romans 5:5-11
John 11:21-27
November 2, 2024

We reflect on the list of names for this year (as listed in the program).  Some have been gone a year now while others barely a month and the rest anywhere in between.  I myself lost a cousin in September and her mother, my aunt, in March.  My grieving for them is not the same.  It’s not supposed to be.

Some of the deaths were something of a surprise.  Others involved a short-term illness and still others were the end of a long illness.

No matter which is the case for your loved one, we trust in the words from the Book of Wisdom, “The souls of the just are in the hand of God.”  At the time of their death we entrusted them to the Lord.  We prayed for their time in Purgatory.  (See my webpage “Funerals, Mass Intentions, and Purgatory” for more on any of these and grieving).

Their death has been a loss.  Perhaps it even seemed like “utter destruction.”  Yet, in faith we hope for their immortality in the eternal life Jesus has won for us.

They have passed through the “dark valley” of death.  We have prayed for them and we have prayed for you in your grief.  When they enter Heaven and are counted among the great multitude of saints, they will be able to pray for us, all in God’s time.

When we experience rough moments of grief, we turn to the Lord who is our shepherd who stands at our side.  Even when it might seem that others have moved on and we face moments of prolonged grief, we are never alone.  The Lord never abandons us.

Even for the known sinner, Heaven is possible.  How?  Because Jesus Christ “died at the appointed time for the ungodly…God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”  We are saved through him.

Jesus knows what it is like to grieve.  Even Jesus wept at the death of his friend Lazarus.

Yet, when Jesus grieved, He knew for certain of the Resurrection.  The Resurrection for him was not just something He hoped for.  For Jesus the resurrection was fact. 

Martha had the same faith.  In faith she said to Jesus regarding Lazarus, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.”

Jesus says to each of us, “I am the resurrection and the life; who believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”

I don’t know how people without faith cope with death.  Without faith, death is so final.  There is nothing more.

With faith, death, while seemingly so powerful, really has no power.  With earthly death comes a very profound change but not a final end.  The best is yet to come.  In faith, earthly death is a step towards the fullness of eternal life.

We are not there yet.  However, we begin the journey to eternal life when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  While we struggle against sin, Jesus has already won victory over our sins.  Jesus walks hand in hand with us in every moment of our life.