Need Any Priest Or Deacon

[cappie]

Don't know if this helps from some time ago baby Marie parents Doug and Joan:

A baby is born, beautiful, precious, but fails to come to its rightful unfolding. This child, like the bud that never fully opens, is gathered back into God's heavenly garden of souls - where all imperfections are made perfect; all injustices made right; all mysteries are explained; and all sorrows turned to happiness.

Today we mourn our loss of such a child. We weep, just as Jesus himself wept at the death of his friend Lazarus. Even if we knew the answers to the questions that rise so naturally to our hearts and minds at times like this, there still would be no adequate explanation for this loss. It is painful.

And I believe it is also painful to God, who created the world intending for it to be perfect. As Jesus himself said in the reading that I shared earlier: "It is not the will of your Father that one of these little ones should perish."

And, as promised to us by God through the prophet Isaiah, there will come a time when there is a new heaven and a new earth - a time when never againwill there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years - a time so glorious in its presence that a person who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; and they who fail to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.

But this is not yet that time.

Rather this is the time when heaven yet remains above - and the earth below; the time when the joy of eternal life is only experienced in its fullness once our mortal bodies perish, much as a flower can come forth only after a seed or bulb is planted in the earth and loses its form.

There are angels above. Angels who watch over the little ones of this earth. Jesus speaks of them when he tells his disciples to be careful not to think less of little children simply because they are little children, for in heaven, he says, their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.

There is a special place in the heart of God and amongst the angels for the little ones of this world just as there is a special place in our hearts today for Marie.

And so we weep at what has happened. And so too - God weeps with us.


There isn't much we can say that will help. We can express our sympathy and sorrow. We can offer words of love, care and concern. We can say we will pray for you. But other than that we don't know what to say about these things.

Maybe it is because people don't know what to say that they sometimes say the wrong things.

Some people may say that Marie's death at this time was God's will. Don't believe them. The God we worship, the God who watches over us, doesn't will the death of babies or the pain of their parents. Many, many things that happen in this world are not the will of God. That is part of the price of the freedom we have been given by God.

Some people may say to you that God wanted Marie in heaven with him. While I am confident God has welcomed Marie into his kingdom, I am sure God did not want her to die right now so that He could have her there.

Some people may seek to comfort you by saying to you that you are young and that you can have other children. That may be true, but other children will not replace Marie. She was her own person. The empty place her death has left in your heart will not be filled simply because you have another child. Nor should it be. Every child is unique and precious.

I am sure the people who say things like this say them with a desire to comfort. They want to say something that will help. Bless them for it - but know that we are faced with a mystery - the mystery of life - and of death - in which there are no easy answers.

"What" then, "are we to say to these things?"

What St. Paul answers is, "If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?"

It is important to know that God is for you. God did not do this to you. God did not will Marie's death or your pain. But God is with you in the midst of it all and will help you through it. God is for you. What is more, God gave up his own son for us all.

Joan and Doug, God understands your pain. God had a son who died also. Jesus died on the cross for us.

Now, you may think, "Sure, but Jesus rose from the dead." Well, because Jesus rose to new life you can be confident that Marie has new life also, one that can never be snatched away from her - or from you.

Cling to that hope - that promise of our God - and allow your tears to wash away the pain in the days and months to come.

[desertwoman]

God speed Father.

The only thing other pastors have said that we do not know God's will, but his will has been done, and this little one is in heaven never having to know how it is to be separated from the Father for long.

[Theologian in Training]

[quote name='cappie' post='1791794' date='Feb 26 2009, 06:27 AM']Don't know if this helps from some time ago baby Marie parents Doug and Joan:

A baby is born, beautiful, precious, but fails to come to its rightful unfolding. This child, like the bud that never fully opens, is gathered back into God's heavenly garden of souls - where all imperfections are made perfect; all injustices made right; all mysteries are explained; and all sorrows turned to happiness.

Today we mourn our loss of such a child. We weep, just as Jesus himself wept at the death of his friend Lazarus. Even if we knew the answers to the questions that rise so naturally to our hearts and minds at times like this, there still would be no adequate explanation for this loss. It is painful.

And I believe it is also painful to God, who created the world intending for it to be perfect. As Jesus himself said in the reading that I shared earlier: "It is not the will of your Father that one of these little ones should perish."

And, as promised to us by God through the prophet Isaiah, there will come a time when there is a new heaven and a new earth - a time when never againwill there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years - a time so glorious in its presence that a person who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; and they who fail to reach a hundred will be considered accursed.

But this is not yet that time.

Rather this is the time when heaven yet remains above - and the earth below; the time when the joy of eternal life is only experienced in its fullness once our mortal bodies perish, much as a flower can come forth only after a seed or bulb is planted in the earth and loses its form.

There are angels above. Angels who watch over the little ones of this earth. Jesus speaks of them when he tells his disciples to be careful not to think less of little children simply because they are little children, for in heaven, he says, their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.

There is a special place in the heart of God and amongst the angels for the little ones of this world just as there is a special place in our hearts today for Marie.

And so we weep at what has happened. And so too - God weeps with us.


There isn't much we can say that will help. We can express our sympathy and sorrow. We can offer words of love, care and concern. We can say we will pray for you. But other than that we don't know what to say about these things.

Maybe it is because people don't know what to say that they sometimes say the wrong things.

Some people may say that Marie's death at this time was God's will. Don't believe them. The God we worship, the God who watches over us, doesn't will the death of babies or the pain of their parents. Many, many things that happen in this world are not the will of God. That is part of the price of the freedom we have been given by God.

Some people may say to you that God wanted Marie in heaven with him. While I am confident God has welcomed Marie into his kingdom, I am sure God did not want her to die right now so that He could have her there.

Some people may seek to comfort you by saying to you that you are young and that you can have other children. That may be true, but other children will not replace Marie. She was her own person. The empty place her death has left in your heart will not be filled simply because you have another child. Nor should it be. Every child is unique and precious.

I am sure the people who say things like this say them with a desire to comfort. They want to say something that will help. Bless them for it - but know that we are faced with a mystery - the mystery of life - and of death - in which there are no easy answers.

"What" then, "are we to say to these things?"

What St. Paul answers is, "If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?"

It is important to know that God is for you. God did not do this to you. God did not will Marie's death or your pain. But God is with you in the midst of it all and will help you through it. God is for you. What is more, God gave up his own son for us all.

Joan and Doug, God understands your pain. God had a son who died also. Jesus died on the cross for us.

Now, you may think, "Sure, but Jesus rose from the dead." Well, because Jesus rose to new life you can be confident that Marie has new life also, one that can never be snatched away from her - or from you.

Cling to that hope - that promise of our God - and allow your tears to wash away the pain in the days and months to come.[/quote]

Yeah, Cmom linked me to this homily. I am taking some things from it, but, obviously, not everything. Thanks.

[cmotherofpirl]

I do know that tragically, the second victim in this usually is the marriage itself. My friend's daughter Mary Rose died many years ago, and of their grief-support group - hers is the only marriage that survived.
If, God forbid, I lost my children now in their twenties, I would at least had a glimpse of who they are becoming, and there is comfort in that. When you lose a little one, even that comfort is taken away. Mourning anyone is difficult enough, but mourning a future that you have not yet glimpsed can be unbearable.

[Theologian in Training]

Thank you everyone for your ideas, support and prayers. I can finally rest a little bit easier and relax after such a draining experience. I am going to include the homily here just because a lot of you had a hand in it, but I am going to leave the names blank because, though that is what makes it personal, their absence is also what allows it to be unidentifiable on the net.

Also, the family was very thankful despite the massive shock, but it was the music minister and the cantor that had something to say. Right after Mass they said: "we need to talk to you." I said "OK," they said: "no, now." I figured I did something wrong, they said as a grandmother and mother that was one of the best homilies they had ever heard me preach. I don't say that to sound arrogant, but to thank you and show you that indeed the Holy Spirit was at work. Thank you again and God bless, Fr. Brian
___________________________

On behalf of our pastor, Fr., myself and the entire St. Margaret’s community, I want to extend the deepest of sympathies to all of you gathered here this morning, especially N and N and all of us who have gathered in this church to remember N.

And, unfortunately, this is one of those situations where truly no words are adequate and no answer sufficient and, I am not going to stand here and tell you I know how you feel or even that I have the answers you may be asking yourselves because, unfortunately, I don’t, but I do have something to offer you and that is, hopefully, the consoling Word of God.

For, whether or not they mean anything to you now, within those readings that we just heard there is an offering of hope and a promise of consolation, that one day all those tears that you shed, all the sorrow and pain that you are enduring right now will be taken away because the veil of death itself will exist no longer and never again will life be so short or moments of time so fleeting.

I know it is easy to say and a completely other thing to believe, and that is OK, because though that is our hope, though our faith tells us that one day death itself will exist no longer, that one day we will indeed see the true hope of the Resurrection realized, it doesn’t take away the pain, it doesn’t mean we don’t mourn, that we don’t experience sorrow, because N was loved, so it’s only natural, and even harder because she was here so briefly and yet made such a great impact on so many lives.

So, there is grief, there is sorrow, and there is weeping just as Jesus did over His friend Lazarus but, whether we believe it or not, there is also hope, and, perhaps, even a little consolation because, right now, N, your daughter, is in Heaven, and if any good can come from something so tragic, it is that, that you gave birth to one of God’s littlest saints. And though I am sure you would have preferred her here with you, as one mother who experienced something similar once told me, you now have an ally in Heaven.

And though it is hard, you need to live each day with that assurance, knowing, too, that one day you will see N again and to live each day to make that possible. For, with even that little bit of faith you can be sustained, and, yet, with the collective faith of both you, N and N, and all your family and friends there is great support that can be found, because, especially in this situation, no one should have to endure such pain alone.

Beyond that, there is not much more that can or should be said, but only this, know that you will most definitely be in my prayers and in the prayers of the entire St. Margaret’s Community, for N is with God now, and though we all wish it were different, she is among those in Heaven and it is that to which we should cling to with hope and that with which our tears will wash away our pain in the most difficult of days and months ahead.

[BG45]

Beautifully put Father...

[Lil Red]

+J.M.J.+
thank you Father

[StColette]

That was beautiful, Father!

[Theologian in Training]

Probably one of the hardest homilies to craft, I spent more than a few hours putting that together, thank God the Holy Spirit was sympathetic to my pleas.

God bless

[SJRod55]

Beautiful - thank you for sharing this emotional moment and allowing us to be there with you, at least in Spirit.