From death to life

Here is the homily I shared with family and friends of one of our long-time parishioners: a man who used the life lessons he learned to help many others to discover the light of faith.

Funeral homily for Reg McColman

Dearest friends: this parish church, like all parish churches is a physical place where people gather.  We come to this place to celebrate moments of joy, and to seek comfort and solace when sadness seems to envelop us.  Today, friends and family are here with you Barbara, and with your extended family to pray for our brother Reg, and to commend his eternal soul into the loving arms of our God.

The letter to the Romans, from which we have read today, reminds us that when we were baptized in Christ Jesus, we were baptised into this death.  If we have imitated his death, we shall also imitate him in his resurrection.  With mortal eyes, we look upon the mortal remains of our brother, and we remember times in our lives when we knew great happiness in his presence.  We also know that no one of us is perfect, that each of us lives with challenges, and that these challenges have the power to help us become more loving, more devoted, more committed to allowing the light of faith to shine through our acts of kindness toward others. Having retired from the North Bay Fire Department, Reg subsequently devoted his life to the Doyle Alumni and the June Locke Bookstore.  I wondered for a while where this bookstore was located, and what the Doyle Alumni was all about.  I’ve since discovered that neither of these enterprises exists at present, but while they did, many of North Bay’s residents were helped to turn their lives around and to come to believe in themselves.  In a real sense, these were visible proof that having died to ourselves in Christ, it is indeed possible to rise with Christ to a new life.

The Doyle Alumni and their successors: those who still work in the field of addiction and recovery efforts, know first-hand the challenge of dying to self with Christ.  Only through faith can we come to believe that a new life is possible.  Only through developing a personal relationship with Christ through prayer can we understand that the struggles of this life are meant to test our mettle, and to prepare us for another day when we will know the fullness of life and love in the presence of God.  Today, we are here in this place because we believe that Jesus has shown us the way to the fullness of life through the relationship of prayer that he had with the Father, and through the example of his willingness to maintain that relationship of trust even in his own darkest hour.  The gospel passage chosen for this celebration is taken from a time in Jesus’ life when he was facing great trial.  He knew that his time on earth was limited.  He knew that he would have to leave the disciples behind.  He knew that he had done all he could to prepare them for the life that lay ahead: he had taught them about God, the Father; he had taught them about God’s everlasting love; he had taught them that God never leaves us alone.  He also knew that he would have to trust them, and trust that God would fulfill his promises.  Even in his darkest hour, Jesus prayed for his disciples: Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am.  Jesus never stopped hoping and praying for the disciples, and he never stops praying for us either.  Even in our darkest hour, Jesus is close to us, praying for us, holding us and tenderly loving us.

Today we rejoice because now that Reg’s earthly journey is complete, we believe that his soul, like the souls of all the virtuous, is in the hands of God, and no torment can ever touch him again.  The sensate world around us would say that his life is over, but in faith we believe that he is now at peace.  Like Reg, we too face periods of trial here on earth, but these are only opportunities for us to grow rich in hope, for no matter how much we must suffer here on earth, we believe that the life which is yet to come in heaven will be immeasurably greater than that which we have already known.  Every day of our lives therefore, we live in hope.  The light of hope is bright indeed.  It has the power to penetrate all the clouds and darkness that threatens to envelop us.  It has the power to enlighten our hearts with joy and it has the power to infect those we meet with the promise of eternal life yet to come.  Dear friends, let us live therefore as people of hope.  Let us dare to show the world the light of our faith, and let us look forward in joy to the day when we will be reunited with Reg and with all our departed brothers and sisters for all eternity in heaven.