Carissimi amici!
In questa bellissima giornata, siamo riuniti in preghiera, si sono
riuniti nella fede per pregare e per celebrare la Messa della Resurrezione per
il nostro fratello Salvatore. It is very
good for us to be here today, to pray together, and to give thanks to God. At moments such as these, we look to the
scriptures for consolation and for hope.
Just two months ago, Salvatore and Amelia celebrated the
60th anniversary of their marriage. Their daughters
Sylvana and Antonietta were present, along with the rest of their family to
share in that joyful moment. On that day, the stories were no doubt
told and retold, as they have for the past six decades: stories of how
Salvatore and Amelia met in the village of Cocullo, hidden in the hills of the
Appenine mountains; how, they learned their earliest lessons about life and
about faith from their parents: lessons about Jesus, about his mother Mary and
her husband Joseph, about the strength that we can draw from faith, about trust
in God. There were also other stories,
about how Sam and Amelia fell in love and eventually decided to marry; how Sam
accepted the challenge of leaving his wife and their two daughters in Italy in
order to come to Canada in search of work; how he scrimped and saved in order
to bring them to Canada; and all the other dreams which have been realized
since their arrival in North Bay in the late 1950s. Like so many
others, Salvatore and Amelia brought their family here, but they also brought
their faith, their belief that no matter where we might choose to pitch
our tent and build our lives, God is always close to us, loving us,
providing for our needs and helping us to discover the treasures that life has
to offer: happiness, love, gratitude and a companion or two to walk the road by
our side.
Faith and trust in
God is at the heart of every disciple.
Faith and trust are the gifts of our God which help us to celebrate and
give thanks in times of prosperity, and to face the challenges which also come
our way. Even as Jesus was teaching his
disciples these valuable lessons, he knew that he himself would not always be
able to walk physically by their sides; human existence here on this earth is
only for a finite number of days, and none of us knows how many days we have,
yet the secret to true happiness is learning how to enjoy life one day at a
time, paying attention to the people who are most important to us, caring for
those who are entrusted to our keeping, and watching out for those who need our
help.
If we all learn these lessons, and take them to heart,
none of us will be surprised to hear the words of the Master: the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do
not expect. When the Lord calls, we
will hear his voice as an invitation, and we will respond in faith. Even in the most difficult moments of earthly
existence, we will learn to give thanks for the blessings we have received, and
we will be able to look forward in hope because we know that when our God comes
for us, he will always take us to himself, rewarding us with the joy of seeing
him face to face in heaven.
Somewhere deep down, at the depth of our hearts, we all
hope that life as we know it, complete with all its joys and blessings can
continue infinitely, and that we will always have those we love most in our
company, but mortal life is not so. From
the day of our baptism, each of us learns, day by day, to trust in the promise
of our God. This is a promise which is
given by one who loves us even more than we can imagine. It is a promise that speaks of life eternal,
not here on earth, but in heaven. Life
here on earth is a preparation for heaven, and each of us will someday be
called home to heaven. None of us can
change this plan, but all of us can learn how to live even the most difficult
moments with grace and with faith.
Along the way, we have the gifts of friendship and
companionship in faith. We have the
words of scripture to console us and to guide us, and we have the great gift of
the Eucharist, the bread of angels which strengthens us and unites us. Dear friends, let us therefore be united in
our prayer for Salvatore. Together, let
us ask the Lord to have mercy on his soul, and to help each of us to grow in
faith, so that we might profess to the world around us: I know that my redeemer lives … and one day, in my flesh, I will look on God.
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