Here is the homily I shared with the gathered community today. We celebrated the life of a woman of faith, who had in turn shared the gift of her faith with her beloved children, and who has now returned Home.
Cari amici! Siamo venuti in questa chiesa oggi per celebrare la Santa Messa una volta di più con la vostra mamma, la nostra amica, la nostra sorella nella fede. Here around the table of the Eucharist, we gather as we do around the table when we share a Sunday feast. Summoned to this feast which foreshadows the feast of heaven, we have come to pray for Gloria and for those who feel the sting of her loss.
Gloria’s parents, Salvatore and Concetta, left their home in Italy and came to Canada, to the North Bay area where they created a new home. In this new home, they raised their ten children. In this new home, they taught them all they needed to know about life and love, about not being afraid of hard honest work, about always making room at the table for someone who is in need. In this new home, they taught their children the importance of prayer and of faith, and in turn, their children have passed these lessons on to us. Gloria learned these lessons well. Together with her husband Lawrence, she taught her sons and daughters these lessons too, and together, they taught their sons and daughters the lessons of faith that had also been handed down to them.
As part of the faith community that gathered at Saint Rita’s parish, Gloria and Lawrence introduced you to Jesus. They taught you about God and about Mary and Joseph, and the Saints. They taught you about heaven and about the hope that is ours because Jesus rose from the dead. They taught you the importance of the Commandments and about the other teachings of our faith. Because of their devotion, you are now the wonderful people you are.
Today, we give thanks for Gloria, for all the joy and love we have known throughout the many years we have been granted to know her. We give thanks for her many talents and for the wonderful way in which she used those many talents to bring beauty into our world. Today, we commend this faithful servant into the loving hands of our God, and trust that she will be borne on the wings of angels to our true homeland which is in heaven. Jesus, who loved has loved her since the first moment of her conception, will transform her earthly body into a copy of his glorious body, no longer racked by the perils of age, but restored, vibrant and radiant.
We who have gathered in this place are filled with hope because Jesus has reassured us that physical death is not the last word. Therefore we should not grieve, rather we should rejoice because our faith assures us that Jesus died and rose again, and that it will be the same for Gloria, a woman of deep faith who now knows the fullness of life, in company with the Risen Jesus, and with all those who have gone before us.
Dearest friends, we are indeed a people of hope. This does not mean that we will not miss Gloria, now that she is no longer among mortals, but it does mean that we must be courageous enough to allow the conviction of our faith to console our hearts and to reassure us that we can indeed come to Jesus when we feel over-burdened by the trials of this life; he will give us rest; he will gently hold us, he will give us the rest we need so that our souls can be truly at peace. When our souls are at peace, we in turn can share the good news with others: Jesus Christ died and rose again, and it will be the same for us one day; God will bring us to him and we will stay with the Lord forever. Amen.
Funeral homily for Gloria Souliere
Cari amici! Siamo venuti in questa chiesa oggi per celebrare la Santa Messa una volta di più con la vostra mamma, la nostra amica, la nostra sorella nella fede. Here around the table of the Eucharist, we gather as we do around the table when we share a Sunday feast. Summoned to this feast which foreshadows the feast of heaven, we have come to pray for Gloria and for those who feel the sting of her loss.
Gloria’s parents, Salvatore and Concetta, left their home in Italy and came to Canada, to the North Bay area where they created a new home. In this new home, they raised their ten children. In this new home, they taught them all they needed to know about life and love, about not being afraid of hard honest work, about always making room at the table for someone who is in need. In this new home, they taught their children the importance of prayer and of faith, and in turn, their children have passed these lessons on to us. Gloria learned these lessons well. Together with her husband Lawrence, she taught her sons and daughters these lessons too, and together, they taught their sons and daughters the lessons of faith that had also been handed down to them.
As part of the faith community that gathered at Saint Rita’s parish, Gloria and Lawrence introduced you to Jesus. They taught you about God and about Mary and Joseph, and the Saints. They taught you about heaven and about the hope that is ours because Jesus rose from the dead. They taught you the importance of the Commandments and about the other teachings of our faith. Because of their devotion, you are now the wonderful people you are.
Today, we give thanks for Gloria, for all the joy and love we have known throughout the many years we have been granted to know her. We give thanks for her many talents and for the wonderful way in which she used those many talents to bring beauty into our world. Today, we commend this faithful servant into the loving hands of our God, and trust that she will be borne on the wings of angels to our true homeland which is in heaven. Jesus, who loved has loved her since the first moment of her conception, will transform her earthly body into a copy of his glorious body, no longer racked by the perils of age, but restored, vibrant and radiant.
We who have gathered in this place are filled with hope because Jesus has reassured us that physical death is not the last word. Therefore we should not grieve, rather we should rejoice because our faith assures us that Jesus died and rose again, and that it will be the same for Gloria, a woman of deep faith who now knows the fullness of life, in company with the Risen Jesus, and with all those who have gone before us.
Dearest friends, we are indeed a people of hope. This does not mean that we will not miss Gloria, now that she is no longer among mortals, but it does mean that we must be courageous enough to allow the conviction of our faith to console our hearts and to reassure us that we can indeed come to Jesus when we feel over-burdened by the trials of this life; he will give us rest; he will gently hold us, he will give us the rest we need so that our souls can be truly at peace. When our souls are at peace, we in turn can share the good news with others: Jesus Christ died and rose again, and it will be the same for us one day; God will bring us to him and we will stay with the Lord forever. Amen.
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