Pray For My Grandmother

[DemonSlayer]

Absolutely.

[Theologian in Training]

Ok, got off the phone with a good friend of mine who is a priest at the parish we are going to have the funeral, so he is going to have me very involved in everything. He is going to show me how to do the wake service, the commendation, I am going to proclaim the Gospel and preach, and whatever else is in my capacity to do.

Please keep me in your prayers as well as my family. However, I need some special prayers since I have no idea what to say nor what to do. It will be my first time preaching and, truth be told, though I was close to my grandmother, I was not that close to her.

Again, thank you all for your prayers

God Bless

[stargirl3:16]

Prayers for you.

[Cathurian]

Prayers for you and your family.

[Fearful 1]

Praying.

[Tony]

prayers

[Theologian in Training]

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers. Everything went well, and everyone appreciated my sermon. The Holy Spirit is very generous.

Thank you all again.

God Bless

[cmotherofpirl]

Myy the angels lead her into Paradise and God hold you in the palm of His hand.

[Seven77]

prayers

[Theologian in Training]

I will post my first sermon, the one I preached at her funeral, later on today.

Thank You all

God Bless

[annabelle87]

You're in my prayers...keep your head up.

[Theologian in Training]

Ok, here is a copy of my first sermon. I deleted her last name to post here, but I did use it in the actual sermon itself. It is not the best, but it was my first.

God Bless

Today, Claire, my grandmother, your mother, our friend has found that rest which was so much deserved and so much needed. We know that her suffering has ended, and though it is hard we can rejoice knowing this to be true. We can also rejoice because we have hope, hope that what God has promised will be fulfilled. That is, through His death and Resurrection death itself has been destroyed. In fact, St. Paul, in the second reading is so confident of this that he mocks death. "O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?" This hope is not just for my grandmother today but for all of us since we too are hopeful that our bodies, like Christ’s, will be Resurrected on the last day. Incidentally, this is the reason the Church celebrates the memory of the Saints on the day they die rather than on the day they were born, because death is not the end but the beginning and as the Baltimore Catechism, the same that my grandmother surely memorized, “God made us to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in the next.

One of the earliest memories I have of my grandmother is kneeling by her bedside every night to pray. The prayer was simple with simple faith, and it taught me a very simple lesson, to kneel before my bed ever night and to pray for others. She taught me by example to do what she learned in words and when she could no longer pray herself that prayer was extended to me. It is a powerful testimony to what is known as the “Communion of the Saints.” Traditionally, the Mystical Body of Christ is composed of three members, The Church Militant, The Church Suffering, and the Church Triumphant. The Church Militant are those that are still in the world, contending against the flesh and the devil, the Church Suffering are the poor souls in Purgatory, and the Church Triumphant are those souls in Heaven. These three compose this Mystical Body of which Christ is the head and we the limbs and the union of this Body is what is known as the Communion of the Saints.

So, even those souls that have passed on make up this communion, and we continue to remain one body with them since by Christ’s death there is no longer a separation.

I would like to believe that the prayers she offered for us here on earth she now gently whispers into the ears of Jesus, and though she was unable to verbalize it to us, it seemed she was being visited by those who make up this communion and have gone before us, why else would she constantly extend her hand as though holding someone else’s hand and then smile? Perhaps, that is what she felt she had to convey to us and why her presence was so strong after she died.

I must admit that I never thought the first sermon I would ever preach as a deacon would be at my grandmother’s funeral, nor did I think that the first communion I would ever give as a deacon would be the last communion my grandmother would ever receive in this life. Yet, that is the way God intended it, and, I am sure the way my grandmother would have liked it to be. And now she is at rest, and her suffering in this life has come to an end.

I would like now to close with a poem I find quite fitting and the one, ironically, I came to find out is on the back of her prayer card:

God saw you getting tired
And a cure was not to be
So He put His arms around you
And whispered 'Come with Me.'

With tearful eyes
We watched you suffer
And saw you fade away
Although we loved you dearly
We could not make you stay.

A golden heart stopped beating
Hard working hands at rest
God broke our hearts to prove
He only takes the best.

It's lonesome here without you
We miss you more each day
Life doesn't seem the same
Since you've gone away.
When days are sad and lonely
And everything goes wrong
We seem to hear you whisper
'Cheer up and carry on.'

Each time we see your picture
You seem to smile and say
'Don't cry, I'm in God's keeping
We'll meet again someday.'

[franciscanheart]

thats beautiful. and how beautiful it is that you were able to give communion to your grandmother for the last time during your first time as a deacon and then give your first homily at her funeral. that really was awesome reading.

[Theologian in Training]

[quote name='hugheyforlife' date='May 29 2005, 01:24 PM'] thats beautiful. and how beautiful it is that you were able to give communion to your grandmother for the last time during your first time as a deacon and then give your first homily at her funeral. that really was awesome reading. [/quote]
Thank You.

God Bless

[cmotherofpirl]

Grandma must be very proud of you.

[Extra ecclesiam nulla salus]

that was really beatiful sermon.

and i really liked this: “God made us to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in the next.

[Theologian in Training]

[quote name='Extra ecclesiam nulla salus' date='Jun 2 2005, 06:07 PM'] that was really beatiful sermon.

and i really liked this: “God made us to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in the next. [/quote]
That is from the Baltimore Catechism...

Thanks

God Bless

[Theologian in Training]

Before this thread drifts off into the abyss of pages, I just wanted to say goodbye one more time.

Goodbye Grandma, we love you. Rest now, be at peace, be consoled.

Pray for us as we have been praying for you.

Eternal rest grant unto her O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace.

[littleflower+JMJ]

aaaaaww my condolences to you theo!! I never had to chance to meet my grandmother, even though I am named after one.

our prayers rise up with yours...

Eternal Rest grant unto her O Lord, and May your perpetual light shine upon her and May she rest in Peace....

God bless