The first funeral Mass I ever attended was for my father. I was seventeen when he died unexpectedly that Monday morning from a heart attack. I still recall the moment when the phone call came from the hospital that he had died.
That morning, in the fall of 1966, I dealt with death unlike ever before. Dad would not be home for dinner that night or ever again. Slowly the news sank in. I imagined that he had left that day on another trip with a one-way ticket, not into oblivion but to eternal life.
I was accustomed to saying good-bye to Dad. As an army officer, he had been away from home more than once for months at a time. His last overseas trip had been to Korea the year before. He hadn’t even been home ten months when he died.
During that time he was in Korea, the Mass began to change. The altar was turned around and slowly Latin was being replaced with English lines. I wasn’t too surprised to see Dad go to Mass with us on his first Sunday home. I thought he was curious to see how the Mass had changed.
At communion time, he stood alongside me in the aisle to let my mother and siblings pass by, then he followed them up to receive communion. I walked behind him, thinking to myself, “Hey, Dad, the Mass has changed but you still gotta be Catholic to go to communion!” Imagine the scene of joy after Mass when my mother learned what my father had done. Her prayer of 20 years had been answered at last for Dad became Catholic shortly before coming home from Korea.
These memories come to mind because this was the gospel we heard at his funeral. I don’t recall hearing much about Martha, Mary or Lazarus in the homily, but I do remember hearing the words, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” I heard these words in a new light. The change I saw in my father’s faith during the last months of his life impressed me enough that I had no doubt he found eternal life. John uses the miracle of Lazarus to teach us that in Jesus Christ, our souls will find eternal life.
Sooner or later, death will be our common experience. If Jesus’ reaction to the death of Lazarus is any indication, God takes no delight in this milestone we will all encounter but rejoices at what could follow and hopefully we will too as the last bit of life ebbs from us. We won’t be in control of our bodies then but we are in control of our destiny.
At death’s door we may feel utterly helpless as we are about to venture into the unknown but we need not be afraid for death is not the end of our existence. Just as he raised up Lazarus from the dead, Jesus will raise our mortal bodies someday as well if we want to spent eternity with him.
This is what Jesus has done for every person who has gone before us marked with faith. In one funeral preface, we hear the lines, “Indeed for your faithful, Lord, life is changed not ended, and, when this earthly dwelling turns to dust, an eternal dwelling is made ready for them in heaven.” However much we may grieve the loss of a loved one here and now, we are hopeful that they have moved onto a better place that will surpass our wildest expectations.
On Friday, Pope Francis said, “Faith begins when we realize we are in need of salvation. We are not self-sufficient; by ourselves we flounder: we need the Lord, like ancient navigators needed the stars. Let us invite Jesus into the boats of our lives. Let us hand over our fears to him so that he can conquer them. Because this is God’s strength: turning to the good everything that happens to us, even the bad things. He brings serenity into our storms, because with God life never dies.”
Shortly before he died, Cardinal Bernadin of Chicago described his bout with terminal cancer in this way, “To paraphrase Charles Dickens in A Tale of Two Cities,‘It has been the best of times, it has been the worst of times.’ The worst because of the humiliation, physical pain, anxiety and fear. The best because of the reconciliation, love, pastoral sensitivity and peace that have resulted from God’s grace and the support and prayers of so many people.”
Hopefully, the cardinal speaks for anyone who is now ill. How unnerving it has been for us in recent weeks and will be for weeks to come with the coronavirus pandemic. As of now, more people have become ill with this bug in America than in any other country. How long must we deal with this situation is anyone’s guess but my daily prayer is that no one in our parish will become ill much less die from this disease.
While for the sake of your health, we cannot gather as a faith community, let’s remain upbeat knowing that God is with us through prayer and scripture. As Paul points out, “If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the One who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also, through his Spirit dwelling in you.”
We need not fear the moment when death arrives for that moment will bring us to the best of times whenever it comes. We will be reunited with loved ones who have gone before us marked with faith and unbounded by our earthly restraints, we will be free at last to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.