Homily Sunday Mass 11/3 and 4, 2018 [And OLPH’S Annual Mass of Remembrance]

Last Night we gathered in church at 4:15 pm, and we remembered and prayed for the deceased members of our families, and for our deceased friends.   

St. Francis de Sales said, “Let God gather from His garden what He has planted, He takes nothing out of season.”  We do not understand God’s Seasons, so personal loss is difficult for us.

Each of us here knows that!  And we know that, “Heartbreak is impossible unless there is great love.  Without love, sorrow & tears would disappear.”   (Eugene Kennedy)

We believe that our deceased loved ones are in the “land of the living”, at home with God.  In a Funeral Mass our sorrow, our tears, our love and our hope unite in the Eucharist.  From the Eucharist we receive the strength to continue and to continue with Hope.

St. Mark’s Gospel today echoes our first reading from Deuteronomy, reminding us that the 1^st Commandment is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, with all our mind & with all strength.  

The Scriptures and the Eucharist renew us!  Today we will be renewed, once again, by The Word by The Eucharist.  Msrg. Sacks asked God for all of us, “… that we may hasten without stumbling to receive the things you promised.” [Collect 11-04-18]

During November the Church asks us to remember those “…who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection.” [Ordo 2018]   Fr. Ron Rolheiser wrote about the “communion of saints”, he said “those who have died still [have] a real relationship with us.  He labeled it “Galilee” and said “Galilee” represents the place in our hearts and in our geography where we learned about the goodness of God from them, and where our relationship with them continues. [“Finding Our Loved Ones After Their Deaths”, 11-21-2014]

In the Vigil for the deceased we pray, “My brothers & sisters, we believe that all the ties of friendship and affection which knit us as one throughout our lives do not unravel with death.”  We know and we believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the light – He is our way, our truth and our light.  He will guide each one of us “through the night and greet us with his light.”

That is our belief

That is our consolation!

That is our Hope!  

And we do not Hope in vain!

Jesus told the scribe “you are not far from the kingdom of God.”  What a great message to receive, “You are not far form the kingdom of God! 

What is the correct path? 

We know it well, to love God and love our neighbor, with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength.  Jesus told the scribe “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” 

For a few minutes, in silence, reflect on what Jesus would say to you about the how close you are to the Kingdom of God?

May God Be Praised!