Reward for your labour

Today, we celebrated the funeral of a lady who was truly an example of faith to many.  Here is the homily prepared for our gathering.

Funeral homily for Gertrude Nadon

This community of disciples is assembled here today to pray our dear sister Gertrude into eternity.  After 97 years of life here on this earth, she is finally at Home, in company with her beloved husband Ross and all those who have preceded her on the journey to heaven.  This is a celebration of joy and of faith because we believe that the reward of all our labours, arrival in our heavenly homeland, is granted to Gert today.  Even as we celebrate this milestone in her life, we are also united in the grief being experienced by her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, because she will no longer walk among us, talk with us, and share her special love with us on this earth.

Faith was a very important element in the life of this lady, and so it is fitting that we should bring her home to this place of prayer.  Inspired by the words of scripture which we have heard this morning, I’d like to reflect a bit on our God’s invitation, issued to Gert: come, receive the reward prepared for all the faithful.

Saint Matthew recounts Jesus’ advice given to the disciples about the criteria by which we shall all be judged on the day we see our God face to face.  This teaching, like so many others which Jesus gave, begins with an invitation: Come, you whom my Father has blessed …  Gert was well known in this city, especially to those who frequented the Rosebud and Fiddler’s Green.  In their day, these were the gathering places, the watering holes where the locals would congregate, for a Sunday breakfast or brunch, for an evening of entertainment, for a casual snack or for a family dinner.  How many hungry mouths were fed and watered there?  How many strangers were welcomed, thanks to Gert’s commitment and love?  From what I’ve been told, I believe that Gert was always willing to help someone in need, but she didn’t stand for any nonsense either.  The strength of character that made all of this possible came in no small part from her faith, from her commitment and belief in the words of Jesus which command us to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to welcome the stranger, to clothe those who are naked and to be present to those in need.  Now, it’s Gert’s turn to hear these words spoken to her: Come … take for your heritage the kingdom prepared for you.

We who are here in this church today are mere mortals.  Today, we gather in the presence of the immortal, to give thanks for the life of this great lady.  Today we receive the gift of a special food, distributed from a table around which we are all invited to gather.  Today, we watch with the eyes of faith, trusting that Gert’s soul, like all the souls of the virtuous are in the hands of God, taken to a place where no torment of any kind shall ever touch her again (Wis 3:1).  This is the reward promised to all of those who are the children of God.  This reward is also promised to each of us.  I’m sure that at times, some of us might feel that we are the least of those who should be rewarded in this way.  Human beings are often much more aware of our shortcomings, and our weaknesses than we are of God’s abiding love for us.  I wonder if Gert ever doubted.  I wonder if she ever questioned.  I wonder what prayers she uttered on the days when she might have found it most difficult to believe that God is always close to us, loving us, waiting for us, wanting to reward us with the gift of everlasting life, and the full knowledge of a love that surpasses every trial we may ever have known.

Dear friends, this reward of life eternal is prepared for all of us.  Even on the days when we must face the greatest of challenges, the Lord never leaves us alone.  He knows our afflictions and our poverty (Rev 2:8), our sufferings and our persecutions, but he asks us only to be faithful to him, even to the point of death.  Jesus himself modeled for us the faithfulness he asks us to live, by giving himself out of love for us, even to the point of suffering death on a cross.  Then, as now, physical death did not have the last word.  Instead, physical death is the gateway to eternal life, the ultimate crown of victory (Rev 2:10).  Let us give thanks today for the crown that is entrusted to our sister, and let us all be resolved to imitate her in striving always to come to the Lord, ready to serve him in faith and trusting in the reward that awaits us.