April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
ALL SOULS' DAY
Eulogy for a brother
The Word of God can be like the balm of Gilead to heal the body and soul as we experience grief, sadness, mourning and loss at this time of physical death. At this funeral Mass, those of us who are of the Catholic faith receive the Body and Blood of Jesus as spiritual food for our own journey, as well as offering our reception of holy communion for the repose of Bill's soul.
The paschal candle, lit on Holy Saturday night, is also called the Easter candle, the Christ candle. It is the first light to penetrate the darkness of the church on Holy Saturday night. The candle has a special place of honor in the sanctuary, directing our thoughts toward Jesus, the light of the world.
This past week, while driving to Fort Edward to see Bill, I thought of Jesus and His suffering in Gethsemane...being condemned to death and carrying His cross...being stripped and nailed to a cross and dying. So, I prayed the sorrowful mysteries of the Rosary.
On arriving, I was pleased to see Bill's three sons. I prayed the prayers of the Church for the dying and anointed him, played his favorite jazz, and Bill took his last breath.
The song being played was Dave Brubeck's "Take Five." I thought of the five decades of the Rosary. Bill had rosary beads in his hands.
It reminded me of the summer of 1962: I had tickets to a Dave Brubeck concert in Latham. My friend Bill Ryan, my brother Bill and Joe Merola - drummer for the Dave Brubeck Quartet - were in the dressing room.
Joe took a rosary out of his coat pocket to place in his stage jacket. As he did so, Bill Ryan pulled two rosaries out of his pocket and said, "I've got mine." I pulled my rosary out and said, "I've got mine." Bill pulled his out: "I've got mine."
It was a moment of special grace as we shared with one another our devotion to the Blessed Mother.
Do you realize that each one of us breaks into history when we are conceived? God broke into history with His promise to Abraham, Isaac and Joseph...by giving us the law through Moses, the 10 Commandments...through the promise of His Son, Jesus Christ. Then Jesus breaks into history through His mother, Mary... through His teachings, healings and miracles...through His Passion, death and resurrection.
Bill broke into history 81 years ago. Physical death ends the history - for Bill, Sept. 17 at 10:15 a.m. - but the good news is that it's not over. The resurrection of Jesus gives us a preview of the end and an assurance that we are on our way to an outstanding future: eternal life with God.
I wonder if, deep down, Bill knew this, because in all of his physical suffering, I never once heard him complain. Bill believed that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the acorn of the oak tree to come.
What God set into motion in our breaking into history, God brings to fulfillment when the soul leaves the body. Eternal life is the completion of this life. We imagine the new life promised by Jesus in which "no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor the heart of man and woman conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him in this life."
Bill certainly loved God and His Church. So, we commit his great spirit to eternal life, with the God of history.[[In-content Ad]]
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