All Souls Day homily – 02.11.16 – Sheffield Cathedral
One week ago today I had the sad privilege of conducting my mother’s funeral, her death coming after a considerable period of ill health and suffering. While comforted in the knowledge that she is with God and free from pain I am left with the inevitable sense of sorrow and sadness that comes with the loss of a loved one. There is a gap in my life that no-one will ever fill.
Such loss is, of course, part of the universal human experience. As the great Christian apologist C. S. Lewis once put it: ‘The pain now is part of the happiness then. That’s the deal.’ In the midst of life we are, indeed, in death but this is not something that we should fear, neither should it undermine our faith and trust in God’s eternal grace and mercy.
Our departed loved ones are held in God’s love as they continue in God’s nearer presence no less than they were during their earthly life. I was reminded of this in some of the words that I used at my mother’s funeral from the Wisdom of Solomon:
‘But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seem to have died, and their departure was thought to be a disaster, and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace’ (Wisdom 1.1-3).
Her place among the righteous is not, of course, a status that she earned even though she lived a good life. Rather it is through the unconditional love of God in Christ: that boundless love which encompasses us all, and enables us to live life not fearing death but trusting that we have an eternal future with God when our own bodies give out.
Our Lord himself offered reassurance to his disciples about this in words recorded in the Gospel of St John:
‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling-places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.’ (John 14.1-3).
Such thoughts come together for us on this feast of All Souls which is a source of consolation as we remember our departed loved ones. Our belief in the communion of Saints allows us to feel close to those who have died and gives us much hope in moments of despair and sadness. Our loved ones may be out of sight but they are not out of mind. They have not ceased to be, but live in a greater life beyond our imagining where death does not hold sway.
If our hearts are broken and suffering about the loss of loved ones, or if we are dealing with unresolved issues about goodbyes that were not said, peace that was not made, gratitude that was not expressed, let us remember those things in our prayers and offer them to God for healing so that we no longer carry unnecessary burdens with us.
As I was preparing this short address I came across two short texts that I would like to share with you. The first is from a little book entitled Encounters with Silence, by the great Jesuit theologian Fr. Karl Rahner, SJ, in which he wrote about those who have died and the grief of those left behind:
‘That’s why our heart is with them now, our loved ones who have taken leave of us. There is no substitute for them; there are no others who can fill the vacancy when one of those whom we really love suddenly and unexpectedly departs and is with us no longer. In true love no one can replace another, for true love loves the other person in that depth where he is uniquely and irreplaceably himself. And thus, as death has trodden roughly through our lives, every one of the departed has taken a piece of our hearts with them– and often enough– our whole heart.’
The second was written by the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago as he was dying in the Autumn of 1996. In his personal testament, The Gift of Peace, he speaks powerfully about death and life:
‘Many people have asked me to tell them about heaven and the afterlife. I sometimes smile at the request because I do not know any more than they do. Yet, when one young man asked if I looked forward to being united with God and all those who have gone before me, I made a connection to something I said earlier in this book. The first time I travelled with my mother and sister to my parents’ homeland of Tonadico di Primiero, in northern Italy, I felt as if I had been there before. After years of looking through my mother’s photo albums, I knew the mountains, the land, the houses, the people. As soon as we entered the valley, I said, “My God, I know this place. I am home.” Somehow I think crossing from this life into eternal life will be similar. I will be home.’ [pp. 152-153].
So on this All Souls day, and during these days of November, traditionally a time in the Church’s life to remember the departed, I encourage you to spend some time reflecting on those who have been close to you, who have died, and are now with the Lord. Ponder those verses from Wisdom 3.1-3
‘But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seem to have died, and their departure was thought to be a disaster, and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace.’
Bring the images of your loved ones into your mind’s eye. As you remember their lives, imagine the Lord Jesus escorting each of them into heaven at the time of death, and give thanks.
May we spend our earthly pilgrimage filling our minds with the thoughts of heaven, so that when we finally cross over into eternal life, the images we see may not be foreign, startling or strange. Let us pray that we, too, may be able to say: “My God, I know this place. I am home.”
Lord, you are the resurrection and the life. You promised that whoever believes in you will never die. Lord, through the power of your rising, help us to believe in our own resurrection. Amen.
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