A new troubadour in heaven

Here is the text of the homily I wrote for the funeral we celebrated this afternoon: remembering and celebrating the life of one of our most long-standing parishioners even as we commend her eternal soul into the loving arms of our God.

Funeral homily for Nellie Knight

Nellie’s children, her grandchildren and great-grandchildren have come today to pray with our family of faith, to give thanks to God for Nellie’s life and to commend her eternal soul into the loving arms of our God.

Together, we raise our voices in songs of praise and thanksgiving to our God for all the wonderful years that we have been privileged to share with Nellie.  Perhaps it’s by happenstance, but I think it’s by God’s providence that she has completed her earthly journey and taken her seat with the heavenly choirs of angels only days before we begin the Season of Advent.  Nellie absolutely adored Christmas: the carols, the music, gatherings with family and friends.  For a heart such as hers – one that is brimming over with love for life - there is always a place at the table for an unexpected guest, there is always enough food to feed a hungry mouth, and even though we may be confined by the limits of physical space, everyone is welcome. As we prepare to celebrate Christmas this year, our joy is all the more because we know that she is now seated at the heavenly banquet (Is 25:6) which awaits all of God’s children.

It might seem strange to some who are here today to think of this day as an occasion for celebration: our hearts are breaking because we will no longer see Nellie in this world, but the faith that she taught us tells us that we are God’s children from the day of our baptism.  Because of this, we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus to new life after he died on the cross will raise us also to the fullness of life and will bring us into his presence in heaven (cf 2 Cor 4:14).

For 37 years after her husband Cecil died, Nellie continued to be a source of inspiration and wisdom for her family and friends.  In the latter years of her life, she was physically constrained due to the effects of a stroke, but even though her physical body was compromised, it seemed as though her inner self was being renewed day by day (2 Cor 4:16).  Every one of her family members learned to play cards while sitting at a table with her.  She never forgot the rules.  In fact, aside from feeding people, she loved nothing more than to shuffle the deck.  Time spent with her was never wasted.  In fact, it was a precious gift for those who had the privilege, to learn a special kind of wisdom: the simple wisdom that comes from spending time with those we love, the wisdom that is shared willingly with those we love.

Always cherish the moments you were able to share with her.  Always treasure the words she spoke and the lessons she taught.  Times like this remind us all that life here on earth is a very fragile thing.  It lasts for a number of years which might seem a very long time but it passes with remarkable speed.  Eventually, when the earthly tent we live in is folded up (2 Cor 5:1) all that we see and touch today will be no more, but we have the promise of our God that there is another home for us in a house not made with human hands, an eternal home in the heavens.

Nellie spent a little more than nine decades on this earth – most of those years right here in North Bay.  By comparison, Jesus spent only a very short period of time with his disciples, yet even in those short three years, the disciples had come to know and to trust him, even to love him, so when he knew that the time was near for him to be separated from them, they were afraid: afraid of the future, afraid of having to go on without him.  There’s a part of our hearts too that is afraid at this very moment because we can’t imagine a world without Nellie in it.  Gathered here around the table of the Eucharist, Jesus speaks to us just as he spoke to the disciples: Do not let your hearts be troubled (Jn 14:1).  This parish community was always a part of Nellie’s life, and we continue to be a part of the lives of all those who come here seeking the support and love of their brothers and sisters in faith.

Jesus has prepared a place for our sister in the Father’s house, and he will also prepare a place for each one of us.  While we await the day of our calling, we continue to follow the way that he points out to us, looking to him in times of doubt so that we can learn the truth from him, so that we can be guided by the light of our faith and so that we can walk in his light until the day that we ourselves know the fullness of life in his presence.