Her room is ready

Today, we celebrated the fulfilment of a promise that was made to our sister in faith, and we commended her eternal soul into the loving arms of our God.

Funeral homily for Patricia Parent

Paul, Laurie, Jeff and Keri, your family and friends have gathered around you to share with you the expressions of our sympathy in this time of grief.  We have also come to support you and to be living reminders for you of the promise of our faith in Jesus Christ.  He died on a cross and was raised to new life.  Having triumphed over the grave, he reassures us that when we must face difficult moments in life, like the death of a beloved wife, mother, sister, grandmother and friend, he is very close to us.  He knows how difficult it can be to have to say goodbye to someone we have loved, someone who has loved us.  This is the reason why he told his disciples: do not let your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God, and believe also in me (Jn 14:1).

In these last days, we have all had opportunities to remember the good times that we shared with Pat: the times when she rejoiced with us.  There is nothing like the look of sheer joy on the face of someone we love.  Some of the experiences that we have shared with her were times when the seeds of friendship were sown between us, sometimes without us even realizing it (cf Ecc 3:2).  We recall occasions when she was present to us in our times of difficulty and trial, and was able to comfort us because she herself had experienced moments of similar trial in her life but understood the power of faith to help us overcome them (cf Ecc 3:4).  Even in the darkest of times, she continued to believe that it was and is always possible to find a reason to hope.

When God brought Paul and Pat together, He created a bond that has remained strong until this day.  The strength of their marriage has allowed them to enjoy many of God’s blessings together, and it has also provided strength for them at times when they needed to weather life’s storms.  Both of them, in their own way, have encountered occasions when they gladly gave of themselves in order to be sure that the other was happy, and we have all learned from their example.  Now, as we stand at this crossroad with you Paul, we remember the many occasions when Pat might rightly have echoed the words that we heard in Saint Paul’s letter to Timothy: I am already being poured out (cf 2 Timothy 4:6) in love and service to you and to others.  Pat gladly gave of herself in so many ways, always out of love, so now it is right that we should entrust her eternal soul into the loving arms of our God who has allowed us to spend these past many years in her company.

I am almost certain that even when Jesus was speaking to his disciples about the fact that he would be returning to the Father’s house, they didn’t quite grasp his full meaning.  They didn’t want to.  They didn’t want to admit that there was a possibility that he would not always be standing by their side.  The same is true for all of us when we must be physically parted from someone we love.  We never want to admit that there will indeed come a day when we will not be together, able to visit, able to speak together, to laugh together, to share stories and to support one another, but this day has arrived for Pat, and for all of us who have known and loved her in this life.

Because we are people of faith, we know that Jesus returned to heaven, and we know the way to the place where Pat has now gone (cf Jn 14:4).  Jesus has shown us the way.  His word is trustworthy and the path he has laid out for us is reliable (cf Jn 14:6): we can count on it.  Therefore, let us together thank God for every blessing we have been privileged to share with Pat.  Let us also give thanks for all that she has taught us, and together, let us go forward, confident that we can believe in God, that we can believe in the promises his son Jesus has made. In our Father’s house, there are many dwelling places (Jn 14:2).  When our place is ready, Jesus will come again and take us to that place.  Where he lives, we also will live.