Now she knows the fullness of love

Today, we celebrated the funeral for a woman who strove throughout her life to demonstrate the love of our God.

Funeral homily for Irene Lafontaine

Chers amis: nous nous sommes rassemblés aujourd’hui afin de célébrer la vie de notre chère Irène et de la confier au Seigneur pour qu’elle soit réunie finalement avec celui qui l’a créé.  C’est Lui qui nous a permi de la connaître et de l’aimer au cours des années.  De faite c’est Lui qui s’est fait connaître à travers cette servante fidèle.

Dear friends, we gather today to celebrate the life of our dear sister Irene and to entrust her soul to the Lord, so that she might be finally reunited with the One who created her.  It is He who has permitted us to know her and to love her throughout the years that have come and gone.  In fact, it is He who made himself known through his faithful servant.

Irene’s five sons are truly a testament to her love, her faith and her joy.  I’m sure that she and her husband Patrick truly loved each one of you, and in turn, they also loved your wives, your children and your grandchildren.  Only a woman whose heart was filled with love could also have survived the death of her beloved husband, and then fallen in love again.  The fact that Hector’s family has also come to bid her farewell today speaks volumes about the love that you have for her, and about her insistence that you all had a part to play in her life.

When we’ve had the privilege to know someone as loving as Irene, it seems that no amount of years is enough to spend with them.  She spent more than eight decades on this earth, and she had more than her fair share of health problems but her heart was always young.  No wonder the prophet Isaiah says that length of days is not what makes age honorable (Wis 4:8) … understanding is the true measure.  You see, the true measure of our wisdom has nothing to do with what we have come to know in life, but rather how we use the knowledge we have gained in order to please God (cf Wis 4:10) and to share the gift of his love with others.

When we discover this truth about our God, when we experience his love in our own lives, we also learn how to tell others about what we have come to know: that no matter what challenges we might have to face in this world, we do not face them alone.  Perhaps this was the reason why Irene was able to be so positive in her approach to life, even despite the many physical challenges she faced.  Her faith was strong, and she truly believed that there are many rooms in the Father’s house (Jn 14:2).  When a person believes this truth, we tend to live life differently.  Jesus has gone before us, to prepare the way, so even if we cannot understand with human intellect where it is that he has gone, we can believe through faith that he is the Way, the fullness of Truth and the promise of eternal Life (cf Jn 14:6), and we can look forward to the day when we too will be reunited with Irene and with others who have gone before us.

In case our faith should ever falter, we need only look to the vision of heaven that is described in the book of Revelation.  John saw a new heaven and a new earth … the holy city (cf Rev 21:1-2).  Every now and then, we have a rare opportunity to glimpse this new heaven right here on earth in the all-encompassing and accepting love of people like Irene.  In her deep devotion to her family, she was in her own way trying to show all of us that God lives among his people … he makes his home among us … we are his people and he is our God (Rev 21:3).  Let us therefore celebrate with joy as we remember all the good that we have been privileged to witness in the life of this wonderful woman, and let us pray together for the faith to know that God will wipe away all tears from our eyes (Rev 21:4) and replace the emptiness that is now in our hearts with the certainty that where Irene’s soul now lives, there will be no more death, no more mourning or sadness only the fullness of joy and love as she watches over us, cares for us and guides us toward our everlasting home.