Rejoice and be glad

One of God's precious children, our sister in faith, has completed her earthly journey and today we return her to our heavenly Father.

Funeral homily for Marguerite Florence Gore

Today, we have come to celebrate the fulfillment of a promise that was made many years ago to our sister Marguerite.  On the day of her baptism, the Lord made a promise to her: that she who was baptized into Jesus Christ (Rom 6:3) would from that day forward be known to him as his precious child, and just as Christ was raised from the dead, so she too would one day walk in the newness of life (Rom 6:4).  Today, more than eighty years later, this promise is being fulfilled.  We have brought her mortal remains to this place, together with all the memories that we cherish of the life that she has lived among us.  In the act of our gathering, and in our prayer, we commend her eternal soul into the loving embrace of our God and trust that she will live forevermore with him in heaven.

The natural human reaction to this moment of physical separation is filled with questions that seem to have no answers, yet we can look back at the years we have spent together with her, and perhaps we can identify some of the significant moments: perhaps we can’t remember the day she was born, but we can remember many birthdays that we spent with her (cf Ecc 3:2).  We can remember moments in our lives when she was willing to share words of wisdom, to embrace and comfort us, to love us and to encourage us (cf Ecc 3:4, 5, 8).  Each of these experiences was a gift that she shared with us, a gift for which we now offer a prayer of thanks to God who has allowed us to experience such blessings.

Intermingled with the uncertainty of this moment is the assurance of faith: the faith that is shared by all those who have the privilege of being called precious children of our Father in heaven.  Our faith teaches us that when this earthly life of ours comes to an end, we will be welcomed by our Father, and by Jesus our brother.  He will look deeply into our souls and he will see all that we have done for others, and the great love with which we have given of ourselves.

This is the promise that is being fulfilled today for Marguerite.  He who taught his disciples on the mountaintop, and who was always close to her during her earthly life is now looking upon her with deep love.  He knows even better than we do that she always loved those who were entrusted to her care: her beloved husband, her precious children, her cherished grandchildren and her treasured great-grandchildren.  He knows that in each one of these relationships, she recognized how blessed she was, but he also knows that these were opportunities for her to be humbled as she recognized the great gift that had been entrusted to her care (cf Mt 5:3).

As Jesus’ look of infinite love rests upon her, he recognizes and recalls moments in her life when she was able to recognize the goodness in others, to celebrate their achievements and to be happy for their success (cf Mt 5:5).  He also knows how many times she gave of herself for no other reason than because she truly loved.  With the joy of a Father who has waited for the return of his beloved daughter, our God now wraps Marguerite in his embrace.  This is the same embrace with which he holds each one of us who is saddened by her parting.  Even in this moment, if we listen with the ears of our hearts, we can hear him whispering to us: Rejoice and be glad, for Marguerite’s reward is great in heaven (Mt 5:12).  From now on, she will watch over you and she will be waiting with open arms to welcome you when it is your turn to come Home.