Here is the text of the homily I prepared for the funeral that was celebrated today: a true celebration of hope and of joy as we remembered a woman of faith.
Just a few short months ago, we were here in this very church to celebrate the heavenly birthday of Mary’s sister Gloria. Today, it is Mary herself who joins her sister and others in her family who have made the journey to our homeland in heaven. We who are helpless to to keep her from making that journey, gather to pray for this is what we have learned to do when we must face moments where no human reasoning is enough to take away the pain of separation.
A few days ago, after I had heard of Mary’s death, I had a chance to hear some of the stories about Mary’s life. Sitting around that table, I thought: this is what it must have been like to sit around the table in Mary's house, to share a meal, to share the stories of our lives. We exchanged stories about her parents who had raised Mary and her siblings on the farm located up the North highway; stories of a family who learned very early on in life not to be afraid of hard work, but rather to love another; stories of a family who could not always be physically present in a church but who would gather nonetheless to pray, because their mother told them to. It was Mary’s parents who first taught her about Jesus, about the promise of everlasting life, about prayer, about hope and about trust in God. These lessons, she and Ab later passed on to their own children, their grandchildren and to all those who were part of the neighbourhood, all those who were part of their extended family.
The gospel passage that was chosen for this morning’s celebration recounts a conversation that Jesus had with his disciples one day. This was the kind of conversation that parents might have with their children when they want to share some wisdom about life. The words Jesus spoke that day could easily have been repeated by Mary to her own children; I’m sure that they were. Not only did this woman speak of happiness, she embodied it. Lived example has a way of speaking to the heart much more profoundly than any words whispered by our lips ever could. Who else but one who knew what it was like to be poor would be always concerned with the needs of others? Only the heart that is truly gentle can respond to moments of challenge with a phrase like people are just different? How often did Mary mourn for those she had come to know and love, and yet she never stopped believing that when this life is complete, there is another life for us in heaven with Jesus. In her own way, she tried her best to be an example of mercy and forgiveness, of peacemaking and above all of always standing up for what she believed to be right. She was always busy taking care of others.
It is thanks to the lived witness of faith that Mary has left us that her children were able to encounter the community of the Church, a place where we can turn for help when we are overcome by the questions of faith, a place where we can kneel in prayer when no human words seem to be enough, a place where we encounter people who live in our neighbourhoods and others who don’t, and we know that everyone is a brother or a sister of ours. The community of the Church is held together by our common experience of having encountered Jesus, the one who overcame death, rose to life and now awaits the day when each of us will be welcomed into our eternal reward. On that day, each of us will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that Jesus is our God in whom we hoped for salvation … and together, we shall exult and rejoice in his presence.
Until that day, let us, each of us, do our very best to be living witnesses of the joy of the gospel. The cities in which we live, the places in which we work and the tables around which we gather all provide us with opportunities to tell others that we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus. This is why this celebration is one of joy and trust: Mary’s earthly journey is now complete. She enters into the halls of the heavenly kingdom, the place that has been prepared for her in the Father’s house, the place where she will live forever, and where we will see her again one day, when our journey is complete.
Funeral homily for Mary Costante
Just a few short months ago, we were here in this very church to celebrate the heavenly birthday of Mary’s sister Gloria. Today, it is Mary herself who joins her sister and others in her family who have made the journey to our homeland in heaven. We who are helpless to to keep her from making that journey, gather to pray for this is what we have learned to do when we must face moments where no human reasoning is enough to take away the pain of separation.
A few days ago, after I had heard of Mary’s death, I had a chance to hear some of the stories about Mary’s life. Sitting around that table, I thought: this is what it must have been like to sit around the table in Mary's house, to share a meal, to share the stories of our lives. We exchanged stories about her parents who had raised Mary and her siblings on the farm located up the North highway; stories of a family who learned very early on in life not to be afraid of hard work, but rather to love another; stories of a family who could not always be physically present in a church but who would gather nonetheless to pray, because their mother told them to. It was Mary’s parents who first taught her about Jesus, about the promise of everlasting life, about prayer, about hope and about trust in God. These lessons, she and Ab later passed on to their own children, their grandchildren and to all those who were part of the neighbourhood, all those who were part of their extended family.
The gospel passage that was chosen for this morning’s celebration recounts a conversation that Jesus had with his disciples one day. This was the kind of conversation that parents might have with their children when they want to share some wisdom about life. The words Jesus spoke that day could easily have been repeated by Mary to her own children; I’m sure that they were. Not only did this woman speak of happiness, she embodied it. Lived example has a way of speaking to the heart much more profoundly than any words whispered by our lips ever could. Who else but one who knew what it was like to be poor would be always concerned with the needs of others? Only the heart that is truly gentle can respond to moments of challenge with a phrase like people are just different? How often did Mary mourn for those she had come to know and love, and yet she never stopped believing that when this life is complete, there is another life for us in heaven with Jesus. In her own way, she tried her best to be an example of mercy and forgiveness, of peacemaking and above all of always standing up for what she believed to be right. She was always busy taking care of others.
It is thanks to the lived witness of faith that Mary has left us that her children were able to encounter the community of the Church, a place where we can turn for help when we are overcome by the questions of faith, a place where we can kneel in prayer when no human words seem to be enough, a place where we encounter people who live in our neighbourhoods and others who don’t, and we know that everyone is a brother or a sister of ours. The community of the Church is held together by our common experience of having encountered Jesus, the one who overcame death, rose to life and now awaits the day when each of us will be welcomed into our eternal reward. On that day, each of us will know beyond the shadow of a doubt that Jesus is our God in whom we hoped for salvation … and together, we shall exult and rejoice in his presence.
Until that day, let us, each of us, do our very best to be living witnesses of the joy of the gospel. The cities in which we live, the places in which we work and the tables around which we gather all provide us with opportunities to tell others that we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus. This is why this celebration is one of joy and trust: Mary’s earthly journey is now complete. She enters into the halls of the heavenly kingdom, the place that has been prepared for her in the Father’s house, the place where she will live forever, and where we will see her again one day, when our journey is complete.
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