Many of the readings that,
or all of the readings that were proclaimed today in our Eucharist are readings
that are often used at funerals. Because really what this feast is about today
is talking about all those who have gone before us marked with the sign of
faith with is the sign of the cross. We
believe that those who have died are either with Our Lord in that wonderful
embrace of Heaven or perhaps some might be in this place that we call
Purgatory.
Now a lot of you here this
morning probably have never heard that word before, Purgatory. Those who never heard this word before raise
your hands. Whoa, I say whoa. Okay.
Half. How many have heard the
word Purgatory. Well, that’s a little
bit better, okay. Whew.
If you’ve been in this
Catholic church long enough things have a way of coming full circle don’t
they? Now for a lot of us of a certain
age, way back say in the 50’s, 60’s, even 70’s this was a teaching of the church. It’s still on the books. It is still one of our teachings. Probably over the last 25 to 30 years,
probably have not heard a priest talk much about Purgatory. What that teaching reminds us is that when we
die and leave this world. Of course we
all know that none of us are going to get out of this world unless we die,
right? So when that happens it may be
before we get to that wonderful embrace of heaven, we still have some things in
our lives that we need to get rid of, purge ourselves of, or purify ourselves
of. So Purgatory, whether it’s a place,
or time, but actually when you enter into eternity we’re beyond time so we
really don’t have an adequate way of talking about it because you and I aren’t
there yet. But when that moment happens,
when you leave this world and go into the next dimension if you want to call it
that way, our teaching tells us that there can be this period of
purification.
I like to think if it this
way that maybe if you don’t get to finish everything that you wanted to during
this earthly existence there’s that little time in space that I can purify,
that I will go through to really prepare myself for that final wonderful
embrace of eternity in Heaven.
You know another way to
describe this may be, for a lot of us can remember maybe when you were five or
six-years-old and Christmas time is coming.
I remember in my family mom would have all the presents under the
tree. A lot of us, would you do this
too, run up and you’d look underneath to see how many packages had your name of
them. And you would count. How come my brother Harry’s five and I only
got four? And mom would say, “Well you
don’t know what’s in those. Maybe there
is something in one of your gifts that was maybe a little bit more expensive
than the five that Harry or Mary or Bob got.”
And I’d say, “Okay”. But you
would have anticipation. We had the
custom we would never open Christmas presents, only on Christmas morning. Maybe you had that custom or tradition. Maybe you do it as a family on Christmas
Eve. But the time leading up to it. You’d look underneath that tree and you went
through a kind of Purgatory, a time of suffering and anticipation and waiting
until you could open those presents.
That’s kind of what Purgatory is.
They are ‘saints in waiting’, those who have died. And they are in communion with you and
me. We can pray for them. We can offer up sacrifices for them. They’re still a part of who we are.
You see that’s part of what
our faith tells us too. That when
somebody dies and leaves this world you don’t stop loving them and they don’t
stop loving you. That love is still
there. And you will sense and you will
experience their presence within you and around you in such wonderful, beautiful
time and ways.
Several years ago, when I
was in Grand Rapids, I had a call to go to one of the hospitals. A little baby was born prematurely and this
tiny little infant girl, Sheryl I believe was her name, probably not much
bigger than the palms of my hands. And
she was in the neonatal unit, ICU unit, enclosed in one of these you know
special glass enclosures. The mom and
dad wanted to have their little daughter baptized. When I got down there to the hospital and got
into there and scrubbed my hands. I tell
you I’ve never scrubbed my hands as much as I did that day. And the nurse made sure, “Do it again,
Father.” We got into the unit, because
you didn’t want any germs to get in. And
this little child, tiny little infant.
Like I say I’ve never seen one so small.
Mom and dad were there. You put
your hands through the little circles so that your hands were fully engulfed in
the gloves, you don’t touch with your human hands and that way. The nurse had give me a little eye dropper
for the baptism. Of course it had the
purified water. And the mom and dad are
standing there looking in through the glass enclosure surrounding their tiny
little infant daughter. We baptized
Sheryl in the Name of the Father, one little drop. In the name of the Son, another drop. And of the Holy Spirit, another drop. Little Sheryl only lived about three more
days and then left this earthly existence.
I was thinking about this
tiny little baby. Who never got to
laugh. We never held a job. Who never was able to speak and say, “I love
you or thank you.” Who never was going
to do all the things that you and I do each and every day. And I ask myself, what did this tiny little
baby give to me? What was her
legacy? What was she passing on to me,
even on this earth for only three weeks? Little Sheryl gave me that gift, how
precious is life. It taught me that
whether we walk this earth for two days, five days, fifty years, eighty years,
each life is precious, each day is precious.
The gift of life is so sacred, so beautiful and we never want to take it
for granted. And this tiny little infant
taught me that.
I like to think that this
day, in this Eucharist, this little child, Sheryl know I’m talking about her
because she is in that wonderful embrace of heaven in eternity. And she knows all of us are here this morning
at this Eucharist praying for her and to her.
Because you can pray to those who’ve gone before us. I hope you do that. That’s part of what this liturgy is all about. We are in communion with all those who have
died and they are still in communion with us.
Part of them is still living within you and me. That’s so wonderful, so beautiful. So you talk to these people, your loved ones
who have died. You remember them. What do we say in this Eucharist, Jesus said
after we consecrate the bread and the wine the final prayer of consecration
says, “And Jesus said, ‘Do this in memory of me’.”
Do what? Live in His love. You and I will receive the Lord Jesus, the
Risen Jesus in Holy Communion this morning.
We will go back through those doors and we will live the presence of Jesus. God lives within you and me. How precious is the gift of life.
Everybody here this morning
I know has somebody in their life who has died and perhaps several people. I think of my own mother, my mom, and all the
other people, uncles and aunts. And as
the gospel said, “There are many dwelling places in heaven”. We each have a place prepared for us now
matter how old or how young, we have a place that’s prepared for us. But until you and I get there let’s remember
those who have gone before us. We
remember them so we don’t forget them, so that their life, their love, what
they wanted to pass on to you and to me is still living in all of us. There is the communion again. They are still a part of us and they live
within you and me.
There is a beautiful prayer
that comes out of the Jewish tradition.
And it goes like this:
In the rising of sun, and in
it’s going down we remember them.
In the blowing of the wind,
in the chill of winter we remember them.
In the opening of buds and
in the rebirth of spring we remember them.
In the blueness of the sky
and the warmth of summer we remember them.
In the rustling of leaves
and the beauty of autumn we remember them.
In the beginning of the year
and when it ends we remember them.
When we are weary and in
need of strength we remember them.
When we are lost and sick at
heart we remember them.
When we have joys we yearn
to share we remember them.
So long as we live they too
shall live for they are now a part of us as we remember them.
Eternal rest grant unto them
O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the
faithful departed, in the mercy of God, rest in peace. Remember them.