There is
a time for everything under heaven, Holy Scripture tells us, a time to tear
down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn
and a time to dance, a time to live, and a time to die[1]...
Well,
now is time to pray, to pray for the eternal rest of the soul of Yolanda, who
passed away last Saturday…
During
the ACTS retreat where Yolanda was before she died, we were talking about
heaven, purgatory, eternal life, confession, etc.. None of us imagined that on
that evening God would call Yolanda into His presence…
That's
life, we know neither the day nor the hour; none of us know when we will be
called to account for our lives. Yolanda was given the gift of receiving
communion on the day of her death, the gift of the blessing with the Blessed
Sacrament, and the opportunity to serve their sisters. In all this we can see
the hand of God, a God who takes the life of humans no in a violent way. God
called Yolanda at the time He considered more appropriate. None of us can say
if Yolanda was ready or not, only God and Yolanda knew her intentions and the
state of her soul. What we do know is that she gave us an example of Christian
life, and that she was working for God and the Church (and for parish of
course) until the last day of her life.
SO,
besides our prayers for her soul and for peace for her family, this funeral
liturgy is an opportunity that God give us to reflect on the reality of death.
We do many things during life that are a waste of time. What really matters in
life is putting God first. Jesus said in our Gospel that he is the Way, the Truth and the Life, if we
are not living our lives in union with Him,
then we are not on the way and if we are not on the way we are lost.
On
one occasion Jesus said, Seek the kingdom
of God first and all these other things will be given you as well. Well, when
we seek the kingdom of God first, when we save time to spend it with our Lord,
when we help others, then we are on
the way, and not wasting our time.
My
brother, my sister in the heart of each one of us there is a longing for God,
so we must be extremely careful about what things we are giving to our heart; we
might try to satisfy it with all sorts of things instead, like power, control,
envy, selfishness, etc. One of the Psalms expresses it beautifully:
O God you are my God, for you I long;
for you my soul is thirsting.
My body pines for you
like a dry weary land without water.
So I gaze on you in the sanctuary
to see your strength and your glory.
Today
we say goodbye to Yolanda, we pray for the repose of her soul, we pray for her
family, and we make a good examination of conscience: Am I living in a selfish manner? Am I being envious? Am I
living without serving to others? Did I seek the applause and vainglory?
Our
dear Yolanda died in a very Christian way: serving others. Today we give thanks
for the years that we had her. I especially give thanks to God for the time she
served the parish as a reader, as a minister, working at the ACTS Core, etc…
Finally:
Yolanda died Saturday, the day on which the Church venerates in a special way
the Mother of God. Let us ask the Virgin Mary to grant us such a death: serving
others, having received the Holy Communion… May she grant us a great love for
Jesus her Son; May our Blessed Mother help us to make Jesus Christ the center
of our life, for Him and only for Him all the honor and glory.
Amen
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