We are a Resurrection People

A few months after being ordained a Deacon, my friend Bob passed away after a long battle with cancer. His wife Betty asked that I give the homily at his Funeral Mass, which I was honored to do so. With her permission, I am sharing that homily here on my blog. At the end there is also a link to the YouTube live stream of the Mass (the link is preset to start at the Gospel Reading) for anyone who might want to listen to it.

Funeral Homily Saturday August 6, 2022

Wisdom 3:1-6 Shepherd Me, O God – Marty Haugen Romans 8:31b-35, 37-39 Luke 12:35-40

Please make yourselves comfortable, I have a two-hour homily. All kidding aside, I know Bob had a great sense of humor cause I heard about that last night, so that was just a joke.

I find it amazing that today happens to be the Feast Day of the Transfiguration of Christ. And in the Transfiguration of Christ the Apostles got to see a glimpse of God’s glory, of Jesus’s glory of how he would be at the Resurrection. And with him was Moses and Elijah, two of the prophets who proclaimed the message of the coming of the Messiah, and of the Resurrection, and of the Kingdom to come. And the Apostles got to see that glory and they were amazed and astonished, and Peter at that moment wanted to build tents there and stay there forever in that glory. So, I find it amazing and graceful that today on the Feast of the Transfiguration we get to celebrate Bob’s life and resurrection.

In addition to that I find it amazing that also this weekend the Gospel that we just read, that I just proclaimed, happens to be part of this Sunday’s Gospel reading too. Now Betty, I don’t know if you and Bob did that on purpose or not because I know you got to plan these readings; but that’s the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit moves in such a marvelous and miraculous way to give us the message of resurrection, the message of life.

And Bob, he was part of our Saturday morning men’s group, and so this morning, even though we had the funeral today, some of us still gathered, broke open the Word, and prayed the Scriptures. And recently we have been praying the names and the attributes of God. And so, I found it interesting that today one of the attributes that we encountered was “God is our Comforter.” And last night at the visitation after we prayed the Rosary, and we heard some of the testimonies that family and friends shared, I felt a lot of comfort and I know a lot of you did too. We heard about Bob’ personality, but we also heard about Bob’s faith; and we are comforted in hearing that, but Jesus is our Great Comforter, God is our Comforter. Jesus called the Holy Spirit the Comforter; and the Apostle Paul writes that “the Lord is the God of all comfort,” and so we find comfort in God. We find comfort in the Holy Spirit. We find comfort in Jesus, and that comfort comes through each and every one of us. Being created in the image and likeness of God, being filled with the Holy Spirit, God moves through us to proclaim his message of comfort to one another; and we experienced that last night.

Now, watching a loved one struggle with and die from cancer is a traumatic experience. I know because I lost my father and other family and friends to cancer. Today we may be feeling overwhelmed and saddened by the loss of our brother Bob, and at the same time we may be experiencing a sense of relief that he is no longer suffering. Our hearts are broken and are spirits mourn, but we also rejoice because we know that God’s grace is sufficient. This day, this hour, moment by moment we choose to lean on Him, for when we are at our weakest His strength is strongest. Let us pour out our grief and our sorrow to Him and praise Him that on one glorious day, when all suffering is extinguished, and love has conquered, we shall walk together again. Why? Because we are a Resurrection People! Let me say that again, we are a Resurrection People!

From the beginning, God created us to be with him and live with him in all eternity. But because of Adam and Eve, sin entered the world. So that we would not live eternally in this fallen state of sin, God cast us out from the Garden of Eden so that we would not have access to the Tree of Life. As a result, we suffer, and our physical bodies die. However, from that moment God put a plan into place so that we might be reconciled to him and be able to share eternal life with him. Through the suffering, death and resurrection of His Son, our Lord, and Savior Jesus Christ, we have redemption. We have been reconciled to God our Father, and when our earthly life is spent, we can become a new creation and enter heaven to live eternally with our Heavenly Father. And so again I say, we are a Resurrection People!

I can honestly say that I have been blessed with being able to know Bob in this life, and I look forward to when I can rejoice with him in the next. Just the other day Betty reminded me that we, Bonnie, Alyssa, Charity and I, were one of the first J&A families she and Bob met when they used to participate in the Saint Joseph Radio’s Friday night speaker series. Since then, it has been a joy to be part of their Parish Family.

We’ve had the pleasure of being with them at one of their Marriage Encounter Potlucks at their home. Participating at 6:30 AM weekday Mass. Helping with RCIA. Attending the Catholic Men for Christ Conference, where this past year I had the honor of being Bob’s prayer partner as we prayed for and over other men. The Pro-life ministry and the Mother’s Day roses for life. Also participating in the Knights of Columbus with Bob and having him be an active participant at our weekly men’s Scripture and Prayer group.

Bob is such a humble person, that two weeks ago at the 5:00 evening Mass he apologized to me for not being able to attend the past few weeks because of his declining health. I said Bob, you don’t need to apologize to me. We miss you, but we understand your situation, and we are praying for you.

Through all this, I have come to know Bob to be a man who has a strong faith and a fervent conviction to share this faith with Family and Friends. And just the other day one of our friends, David, showed me some of the posts that Bob has shared over the years on his Facebook profile, especially the ones since the time he became aware of being ill with cancer. These posts are encouraging, uplifting, hopeful, prayerful, and faithful.

And so, when Betty asked if I would do the Homily today for his Funeral Mass, I was humbled. It is an honor for me to be here both mourning and celebrating the life our friend and brother Bob. And it is truly humbling to be able to share with you all the Love he had for his faith and his desire to share it with all of us.

Because Bob knew the time he had left with us was short, he and Betty planned the Funeral Mass ahead of time, and in the process, Bob carefully selected each hymn and each reading because of what they spoke to him and because of the message he wanted to share with us today. Betty shared his notes with me, and both encouraged me and gave me permission to share them with you today. In a sense, Bob basically wrote his own homily, which makes this a bit easier for me.

“I chose Amazing Grace because God’s mercy led me out of being a lost soul, out of wretchedness and into his grace.

I chose Shepherd me O God because God has always guided me through struggle and temptations my whole life.

I chose Be Thou My Vision because God has restored my spiritual vision and let me know the right direction. Since I have been blind all my life in one eye and partly blind in the other for the last year, the metaphor of “vision” has always been important to me. I also like that it has an Irish tone to it, especially after reading St Patrick’s Confessions.

I picked Take Lord Receive because at the end of life, and during life, we must surrender everything before we can experience his vision. This is the prayer of St Ignatius.

The first reading from the Book of Wisdom, the process of dying, being in God’s presence and final purification.

The Responsorial Psalm – Shepherd me, O God. Because God has led me.

The second reading from Romans because of God’s mercy, love, faithfulness, and presence. We can always turn to God for help no matter what has happened.

Finally, the Gospel from Luke. Because at this stage of my life, wakefulness, openness to God at a more intense level. This is a warning to those who have turned away from following God. Please be prepared to face judgement, don’t procrastinate. Open your heart to Jesus to receive his love and mercy. God, as we heard in the second reading, is eager to take us back. Don’t turn away from God. Know that I am where I have always wanted and prepared to be – with God. I want to see you all there someday. Don’t miss out on heaven.”

Amen Bob, Amen. To this I would like to simply add that nothing can take us away from the Love of God. God made us out of Love, to Love, for Love, and to be Loved, and nothing we can do can ever separate us from the love God has for us. With that, those of us who mourn the loss of having you hear with us, entrust you to the Love of God. And some day, by following your example, and the example of all the Saints who have gone before us, we hope to see you again. Why? Because we are a Resurrection People!

AMEN?! [AMEN!]

https://youtu.be/hGRx1_ws6bE?t=1901