While it, thankfully, doesn't happen very often, it was indeed quite a challenge a few weeks ago when we had four funeral Masses in a ten-day period. Firstly, I want to thank all those who are involved with our bereavement ministry in the immediate time before, during and after funerals. This includes liturgical ministers (ushers, altar servers, sacristans and lectors), our group of ladies headed up by Chris Frantz who work with the families in the set-up in the narthex of pictures and memora-bilia of the deceased person, and attending the guest book (and other actions of hospitality toward the families of the deceased, our Resurrection choir led by Kathleen Kinney, and our Ladies of the Sacred Heart who host wonderful receptions afterward with food and drink for those who come. I and the families can always count on these people to step up and bless the bereaved families and all who come to our funeral liturgies (including as needed our Knights of Columbus honor guard). And I almost forgot Shawn Clark and Mike Miller who make themselves available to livestream our funeral liturgies (and they do so every Sunday for our shut-ins at the Sunday 8:00 a.m. Mass). As you can see it is clearly a team effort that is appreci-ated by me, the family of the deceased and all who participate in our funeral liturgies! I am ALWAYS grateful when I have a completed and filed funeral planning sheet that contains much of what the deceased person wants at his or her funeral such as songs, readings, and people who they want to take on various roles (as lectors, gift bearers, remarks of remembrance), which make our Resurrection Masses beautiful and meaningful. If any-one reading this has not taken the time to fill out some or all of the funeral planning forms (that can be accessed at the church office or in one of the slots over the credenza leading from the narthex into the Administration/Classroom wing of our parish building). Please consider doing so and drop off the form at the church office. Even if you don't fill out the whole thing, it is helpful for me to have on hand (and you a copy of what you want after you depart from this world). Recently I was aware of a local parishioner who died whose family didn't contact me about ANY funeral liturgy for their mother. This dear lady was at Mass every Saturday night for years with her husband and deserved, as all Catholics do, a funeral Mass for brothers and sisters in the Lord (and family members) to lift them up to the Lord with the most powerful prayer we have, the Mass! Finally, I want to remind everyone that if a person is cremated (preferably after the funeral Mass) his or her cremains (in an urn) should be interred as soon after the cremation is done either in the ground or in a columbarium. It is NEVER okay to divide cremains among family members. The entire person's cremains need to be in blessed grounds or in a niche in a columbarium that has been blessed. That is another decision that should be made (if at all possible) before a person dies and followed through by the family as soon after the funeral Mass as is practically possible. I am ready to answer any questions you have and even sit down to discuss the funeral planning form with you and help you in addressing some or all the choices you have for your funeral liturgy. Get it done! your family (and I) will thank you for doing so!
I would like to start this pastor's column with two scripture passages that are certainly worthy of reflection. The first is Psalm 139:13-14 which says "For you created my inmost being: you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." My sister, Judy has recently become a grandmother for the third time and is now in
Texarkana helping her son and daughter-in-law with ittle Evelyn (who they named after my mother). This morning she wrote "I love these little newborns; it reminds you what a miracle birth is." The author who wrote Psalm 139 and my sister would both agree with the statement that a child is a remarkable and wonderful gift from God! The second scripture passage is from the Gospel of Luke when the child, John the Baptist leaped in his mother's womb as Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus, "entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth" (Luke 1:40). Elizabeth, filled and inspired by the Holy Spirit, spoke of the child in Mary as the "fruit" of your womb (Lk 1:42), referred to Mary as the "mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43), and believed that the child in her womb was "leaping for joy". (Lk 1:44). It is sad indeed that so many mothers-to-be throughout history have not felt as the Psalmist, Elizabeth, Mary and Rebecca (Becca) the mother of newborn Evelyn did about the child in their womb and/or the child in other women's wombs. If they all did, aborting (ending the life of the child in their womb) would not be
contemplated, much less be done. It is the call of every generation to impress upon its young people just how precious a child is inside and outside of a mother's womb and do all that it can to support a mother-to-be after she finds out she is pregnant. How far we are from such a society when the concept of abortion is "out there" so much and the right to life of all babies in their mother's womb is ignored and really trampled on when abortion is presented as an option and a "right" for these mothers-to-be to exercise if they wish to do so. How sad it is that in the society we live in whose technology is more and more advanced to the point where we can see and support the child in the mother's womb, that instead of puttng more dollars into prenatal screening and support, some are suggesting that more money (including tax money) should be going to support the killing of the child while in its mother's womb and promoting no limits on when she can do this at any time during her pregnancy. If, outside of the context of this pastor's column I or you or anyone posed or were asked to answer this question: "of the three unalienable rights that all humans are given by their creator" according to the Declaration of Independence, life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which of these MUST come first and of most importance, you would hear or I hope, say life, because without the right to life, these other two could not happen.
Texarkana helping her son and daughter-in-law with ittle Evelyn (who they named after my mother). This morning she wrote "I love these little newborns; it reminds you what a miracle birth is." The author who wrote Psalm 139 and my sister would both agree with the statement that a child is a remarkable and wonderful gift from God! The second scripture passage is from the Gospel of Luke when the child, John the Baptist leaped in his mother's womb as Mary, who was pregnant with Jesus, "entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth" (Luke 1:40). Elizabeth, filled and inspired by the Holy Spirit, spoke of the child in Mary as the "fruit" of your womb (Lk 1:42), referred to Mary as the "mother of my Lord" (Lk 1:43), and believed that the child in her womb was "leaping for joy". (Lk 1:44). It is sad indeed that so many mothers-to-be throughout history have not felt as the Psalmist, Elizabeth, Mary and Rebecca (Becca) the mother of newborn Evelyn did about the child in their womb and/or the child in other women's wombs. If they all did, aborting (ending the life of the child in their womb) would not be
contemplated, much less be done. It is the call of every generation to impress upon its young people just how precious a child is inside and outside of a mother's womb and do all that it can to support a mother-to-be after she finds out she is pregnant. How far we are from such a society when the concept of abortion is "out there" so much and the right to life of all babies in their mother's womb is ignored and really trampled on when abortion is presented as an option and a "right" for these mothers-to-be to exercise if they wish to do so. How sad it is that in the society we live in whose technology is more and more advanced to the point where we can see and support the child in the mother's womb, that instead of puttng more dollars into prenatal screening and support, some are suggesting that more money (including tax money) should be going to support the killing of the child while in its mother's womb and promoting no limits on when she can do this at any time during her pregnancy. If, outside of the context of this pastor's column I or you or anyone posed or were asked to answer this question: "of the three unalienable rights that all humans are given by their creator" according to the Declaration of Independence, life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which of these MUST come first and of most importance, you would hear or I hope, say life, because without the right to life, these other two could not happen.
At one of our social justice and charitable outreach commission meetings, a discussion was held about the "crosses for life" which are about to appear once again on the front lawn of the church. The crosses, for those who don't know, represent the lives of children who have been aborted from their mother's womb and have been denied the opportunity and "right" to come into this world and come to know, love and serve God! The allowance and even promotion of abortion in our life-times, is one of the most abhorrent of realities that we have lived through and led the late Pope (and now) Saint John Paul II to call our times a culture of death, rather than a culture of life. Add to this the senseless and ongoing killing of people that continues to happen through gun violence and other means and we have to say that the killing of people (especially those innocents inside and outside of the wombs) keeps us in a darkness that we must decry and combat through the light and life that is Jesus Christ! Getting back to the crosses for life, there was discussion about whether the crosses are necessary any more given the overturning of the Roe v Wade decision by our Supreme Court which was a huge legal step, but unfortunately did not speak of every human being's "right to life" which is so foundational for a society to be moral and obedient to a God who creates life and NOT death! While at this point, (and hopefully in the future) abortions are now illegal in Arkansas, given the efforts of our state legislature and governor to establish such laws, we are still facing the possibility that an amendment to our state constitution might still appear on the ballot this November which would, if passed, allow abortions to happen legally in our state for years to come. If anything, we should not only put up the crosses this year FOR SURE, but cooperate with efforts to defeat that amendment at the ballot box (if God-forbid it is on the ballot) and elect people on the state AND national level who are truly and fully pro-life, protecting and promoting human life from the womb to the tomb. The reality is that the pro-abortion supporters are strong on the national level and have been spurred on rather than deterred (or even converted) since the overturning of Roe v Wade. We have to be even stronger in speaking up for the God-given right to life, over those who would WRONGLY put the right to liberty first and give it free reign to decide which lives should be protected and which shouldn't. It goes without saying that prayers need to be prayed daily for strength and courage for those who are striving to protect and promote the gift of human life AND conversion especially in those who implicitly or explicitly are promoting its destruction!