An All Souls’ Day reflection

The opening scene of the film “Ironweed,” based on a novel by Albany writer William Kennedy, is set in St. Agnes Cemetery in Menands. The story follows Billy Phelan, a former professional baseball player who has become an alcoholic drifter. After years away, Billy returns home to Albany. Upon his arrival he visits the grave in which his infant son is buried.

The City of Albany is his native soil and the very place where he has roots dating back generations.

One is reminded of G.K. Chesterton’s introduction in his classic defense of the Catholic Church in his book “The Everlasting Man.”

“There are two ways of getting home, and one of them is to stay there. The other is to walk around the whole world till we come back to the same place.”

Please note that the word “cemetery” is of French origin and means dormitory or place of sleep. The cemetery is a hallowed place. The faithful are buried in consecrated ground.

There are many references to sleep as a metaphor of death. The dead are asleep in Christ and are destined to rise on the last day. Saint Paul writes, “Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

Elsewhere, Saint Paul reassures the Christian faithful: “For if we believe that Christ died and rose, God will bring forth from the dead those who have fallen asleep believing in Him.”

The very act of rising from sleep after a night’s rest is a rehearsal, an anticipation of our arising from sleep at the end of life.

One sees three words inscribed on the gates of some of the old cemeteries of Europe and North America: “WE SHALL RISE.” For all those who pass through the front gates to visit their deceased loved ones the message is consoling and, what’s more, hopeful.

In a previous assignment in Frankfort, near Utica, it was not uncommon for many of my parishioners to visit the graves of their loved ones in Mount Olivet Cemetery. Even in death, they desired to be close to them and assure them by their presence that they are not forgotten and will always be the subject of their prayers for the repose of their souls.

In our profession of faith, we recite words of defiance in the face of death. “I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.” Life trumps death. Christ has been raised from the dead.

Seldom do we contemplate our final journey in our earthly life when the hearse carries our lifeless body to its destination, which may be the church cemetery in which we will be interred. Our final resting place marks the end of our pilgrimage in life.

But we needn’t despair. The words from the funeral ritual of the Church come to mind: For the faithful, life is changed, not ended.

I am impressed, even moved, by the sight of a pedestrian bowing his head or making the sign of the cross as the hearse passes by. In years past, the dead were treated with respect. The deceased have passed over to eternity and that eternal life promised by Jesus Christ.

It is a solemn moment.

On All Souls’ Day we remember those close to us who have crossed over to the other side of our earthly life, which is eternity.

We miss them.

We pray for them at the altar of God.

We love them.

It is our hope that all of us will be reunited with them in heaven.

Father John Yanas is pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Troy. All Souls’ Day is celebrated on Nov. 2 this year.