Pastors Notes from November 6, 2022
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November 7, 2022To the question of eternal life and the resurrection of which Jesus was challenged by the Sadducees in this Sunday’s gospel, he replied: “They no longer die, for they are like angels; and they are the children of God because they are the ones who will rise.” What eternal life entails is beyond our comprehension, however certain our faith may be. We do know “we shall see him as He is.” Stepping into November, the “month of remembrance” we graciously recall the lives who have touched us in some way. A family member, relative, friend or neighbor, classmate or co-worker. With faith and hope guiding our own trust in eternal life and the resurrection, we can only imagine their souls intermingling with the great ‘community of saints’; and in some manner beyond our understanding, “they are like angels.” Near the baptismal font at St. Malachy is the Book of Remembrance; likewise, near the baptismal font at Sacred Heart is the Book of Remembrance. You are welcome at anytime to write in a name(s) of those who have died, those who God placed in our lives for a purpose; those who we consciously remember as they continue to speak to us within our earthly endeavors and relationships.
Whatever the “bliss” of eternal life—heaven—entails, and those who inhabit such perfect grace, I leave you with two unique reflections on the ‘souls of the just’.
“My great-great grandmother, great grandmother, grandmother, mother are alive for me because they are part of my story. My children and grandchildren and I tell stories. . .we laugh and remember, ‘re - member.’. . .Remembering their stories is the best way I know to have them remain a part of my mortal life. And I need them to be a part of me, while at the same time I am quite willing for them all to be doing whatever it is that God has in mind for them to do. Can those who are a part of the ‘great cloud of witnesses’ which has gone before us be in two places at once? I believe that they can, just as Jesus could, after the Resurrection.”
(Madeleine L’Engle, Glimpses of Grace: Daily Thoughts and Reflections)
. . . .The people we loved. The people who loved us. The people who, for good or ill, taught us things. Dead and gone though they may be, as we come to understand them in new ways, it is as though they come to understand us—and through them we come to understand ourselves—in new ways too. Who knows what the ‘community of saints’ means. . . .saints in the sense that through them something of the power and richness of life itself not only touched us once long ago, but continues to touch us. They have their own business to get on with now, I assume—‘increasing in knowledge and love of Thee,’ says the Book of Common Prayer. . .That is perhaps why to think of them is a matter not only of remembering them as they used to be but of seeing and hearing them as in some sense they are now. If they had things to say to us then, they have things to say to us now too, nor are they by any means always things we expect or the same things.” (Frederick Buechner, Listening To Your Life)
God our Father, Your power brings us to birth, Your providence guides our lives, and by Your command we return to dust. Lord, those who die still live in Your presence, their lives change but do not end. I pray in hope for my family, relatives and friends, and for all the dead known to You alone. In company with Christ, Who died and now lives, may they rejoice in Your kingdom, where all our tears are wiped away. Unite us together again in one family, to sing Your praise forever and ever. Amen.
May they Rest In Peace, Fr. Tim