Funeral homily for Denise Marie Giselle Lalonde
I bless you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things
from the learned and the clever, and revealing them to mere children (Mt
11:25). These words, which Saint Matthew
puts into the mouth of Jesus are perplexing, but they also help us today by
shedding some light on the celebration of faith in which we are partaking.
We are here today to thank God
for the gift that Denise has been to all of us throughout her 80 years of life
on this earth. No amount of years ever
seems to be enough, for we never want to be separated from those we love. Thankfully, the scriptures reassure us that length of days is not what makes us
honorable … Eighty years is but a blink of an eye in the mind of God, yet
eighty years was enough time for Denise to know great happiness: the happiness
of growing up and being moulded by her parents example of faith, of living in
the community of her sisters and brother and the other members of her extended family
and friends, each of whom helped her to cherish happiness, to be content with
what she had, and to seek ways to share the blessings she had received with
others. Denise also knew the profound
happiness of meeting her soul mate in the person of her beloved husband, and
she knew the gift of happiness which was shared with her in the gift of her
daughter Mary Lynn. Other friends and
extended family members also can testify to the kindness and love that Denise
embodied and to the great gift of faith which she cherished and shared with so
many who prayed with her in the communities of Saint Peter the Apostle and
Saint Rita’s parishes.
The life of faith that
strengthened her, and from which we all draw life begins with the Sacrament of
Baptism. On the day of her Baptism,
Denise (like all of us) began to live in Christ. The true meaning of Baptism is only really
understood at the moment when we celebrate the Mass of the Resurrection, for it
is in the light of the Resurrection that the deeper meaning of Baptism really
can be understood. You see, Baptism is
the Sacrament through which we are all united with Christ. In the words of Saint Paul, we are all changed ... in the twinkling of
an eye. When we celebrate Baptism,
we pour water over the head of the person who is beginning the life of faith,
or we submerge the person altogether in water, as a sign that from that moment
on this person is dying to self and living in faith for God. We don’t necessarily see it with the naked
eye, but each person who is plunged in the waters of Baptism is changed,
instantly: sin is washed away, and the person emerges totally renewed, a child
of God who begins the life of faith which endures until the day that she is
called Home.
Because we human beings are
sensory beings, who learn by what we see, feel, touch and taste, the person who
is baptised is also clothed in a new garment which is customarily white. As a reminder of that Baptismal garment, we
placed the pall over the casket as it was brought into the church this morning. As a sign of the faith that is sown in the
heart of the newly baptised, a candle, lit from the light of the Paschal candle
is passed on to the parents of the newly baptised child – a visible sign of the
faith that begins to take root even on the day of baptism. Through their commitment to faith, and by
their example, Eva and Edward taught Denise the lessons of faith. How they must have marveled to watch as this
light of faith grew within her, and burned brightly within her, guiding her
decisions, influencing and forming her into the person of faith she was to
become. Dear friends, we are the
beneficiaries of the light of faith that shone throughout the last eight
decades in the life of the person who we commend this day to the mercy of God.
Even as the ravages of disease
took hold of her body, her spirit continued to live. Despite the fact that she was being
increasingly challenged each day by physical limitation, her faith and her gift
of child-like trust allowed her to keep the light burning brightly. Dear friends, let us not be blind to the
wisdom that lies before us, nor deaf to the lessons that are ours for the
taking. Let us not look on
uncomprehending at the moment that we are participating in today, but rather,
let us be thankful for the opportunity to have learned great wisdom from this
woman of faith. Let us pray today,
asking for the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, that she will accompany
Denise who knocks at the doors of heaven, and let us also ask Saint Anthony to
pray that we who are still on our pilgrim way, may never be lost to the worries
of this world, but always be guided by the light of our faith until the day
that we too will gaze on the face of the One who loves us more deeply than we
could ever imagine, who illuminates our path with the light of the Risen
Christ, and who waits with open arms to welcome us when we too will finally be
Home.
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