A funeral in Temagami

Funeral homily for Lawrence (Lorne) Blais

Dear friends, when the Christian community gathers, as we do today here in this church, it is always an act of faith, hope and love.

Faith: It was almost a week ago that we heard the shocking news that our dear friend Lorne had died very suddenly.  Ever since that time, we have been trying to understand how this man, who was so well known and loved in this community, could be here one day and gone the next.  Lorne spent the better part of his 82 years living in this community.  Everyone who has called Temagami home knows that he was a businessman, that he understood the value of customer service, that he was known and respected by all, but no matter how well we can reason our way in this world, there are certain moments, such as this, that leave us wondering.  You see, questions of life and of faith are not matters that can be understood with the mind; they must be grasped with the heart, so we must stand here in faith today to pray for our friend.  In the gospel that was proclaimed this morning, Jesus told his disciples: Be dressed for action at all times. Be like men waiting for their master to return … ready to open the door when he knocks.  None of us knows when the Master will return, so we must always be on the lookout, preparing ourselves for the day when the Lord will knock at our door.

Hope: From the day of our baptism, each of us is welcomed into the family of God.  From that day onward, we are constantly learning how to be a child of God.  Our parents, our godparents, other adults who play key roles in our lives, and eventually even our own children and grandchildren teach us lessons about life, about our relationship with God, if we have the eyes to see these moments, the hearts to welcome the lessons and the faith to ponder them.  Paul’s words of wisdom, offered to the Christian community at Rome are offered equally to us today: when we were baptised, we went into the tomb with Christ Jesus and if we have imitated his death, we shall also imitate him in his resurrection.  Together with Pearl, Janet, James, and Jason, as well as all the rest of Lorne’s family, this community stands together in hope today, praying for Lorne.  We know that life here on earth is not forever; that one day, the life we live in this place called earth will come to an end.  Our faith tells us that in baptism we have already died with Christ, and that every day of our lives thereafter is spent pouring ourselves out in love for others, practicing as it were for the day when we will all be raised to new life in heaven.  Until that day, we live in hope, and we celebrate with gratitude, the lives of our companions on this journey, like Lorne, who have achieved the goal of heavenly life.

Love: Today we bid farewell to our friend.  When this celebration is complete, and we have commended his soul to our loving God, and to the intercession of Saint Elizabeth, it will be up to us to continue the road that stretches before us.  It is an act of love for us to witness this moment of passage.  We know that the souls of the virtuous are in the hands of God, no torment can ever touch them, for they are at peace.  No one knows better than Lorne did himself, the joys he experienced in this life; no one knows the questions that he may still have harboured about the mysteries of faith, but each one of us here today has been a beneficiary of the love which we have experienced just because we knew him.  Each one of us is also a beneficiary of the love of God, so today, even as we will bury his mortal remains, we leave his immortal soul in the hands of God, and trust that no physical, mental or emotional torment can ever bother him now.  He is at peace, watching over us now, praying for us and waiting for us in heaven.

Dear friends, let us celebrate today.  Gathered in faith, let us strengthen one another in hope, and let every word we speak and every action we use be exercised in love so that God will see in us faithful disciples, and others may see in us the deep radiant joy that characterises the disciples of Jesus.