Funeral Homily - Mary is Our Mother

I attended a funeral this morning for Dorothy, the mother of our good friend, JoAnn, who is a member of this five-week preparation.  It was a beautful funeral Mass including the homily focusing on Mary as our mother. Fr. Bob, the presider, a good friend and a participant of this preparation blog, is allowing me to post part of that homily. I know a sermon does not have the same power when read versus hearing it given but I hope you will still see the beautiful connection this has to our preparation, of seeing Mary as our mother and advocate, and blessing of including her rosary in our daily prayers.  When JoAnn opened her mom's purse after the death there on the top was a prayer for a happy death. To the very end, Dorothy was a pillar of love and faith for her family, parish and community. May we be likewise.
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Fr. Bob's homily ................When I was visiting with Dorothy’s children one thing that was mentioned over and over again was her strength in the face of difficulty.  Sometimes we wonder how people keep things together when life throws us curveballs.  How did Dorothy keep her joy?  How did Dorothy remain the pillar that we leaned on as we made our pilgrimage of life?  Well, the answer is: she had a mother!

All of us have a human need for a mother and in the life of faith it is no different.  Today in the Gospel we see Jesus give us his mother Mary to help us and to be with us through our Christian lives.  It is truly Mary’s guidance and prayers that allowed and helped Dorothy remain a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. 

In the gospel passage for today’s Mass we are with Jesus in his last agony on the cross and in his most difficulty hour when most people would be thinking about themselves, Christ is thinking and loving his Church that will be born from his side in a few moments.  Jesus in his last agony on the cross is pretty much abandoned.  There is no apostle to be found except John.  There are no followers to be seen, they all left him.  There are no friends except a group of the women who walked with him and his mother Mary.  In the midst of that loneliness when one would want to be close to his mother, he turns to St. John and says, “Woman, behold your son.” And he says to John, “Behold your mother.”  In this last moment of love towards his Church he gives us his Mother Mary.  That act of love of Jesus from the cross was not just for St. John.  That act of love from the cross was for Dorothy (and each one of us) as well.

Jesus thought of Dorothy just as much as he thought of St. John.  And before he died he speaks the mysterious words, “I thirst.”  He doesn’t thirst for merely plain water.  Rather he thirsts to do the will of the Father and the will of the Father is that none of what Christ has been given will be lost.  Jesus thirsts for the love of every human being made and redeemed in his image and likeness. 

So from that moment on as the Church was born from the side of Christ, we have all been given a wonderful companion on the way of discipleship.  Mary walks with us in our joys and our sorrows.  She helps when we are lost.  She points us to her Son.  She never gives up on us and she gives us and makes present the gentleness of God.

I think that is one reason why Dorothy was so devoted to the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The familiar prayers, the repetition of the same words is like the spiritual apple pie that reminds us of home.  The rosary in its deepest essence should be the spiritual apple pie that reminds us of the kingdom of heaven.  When we smell the sweet and familiar smell of the rosary we know that our lives are directed towards the kingdom of heaven. 

And as Our Lady revealed to St. Dominic the promises of the Rosary, one of them states, “Those who are faithful to recite the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the Light of God and the plenitude of His Graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the Merits of the Saints in Paradise.”

Those words sound a lot like the last moments of Dorothy’s life.  The last couple of days before Dorothy died, she was unresponsive.  But as the moment of her death approached her eyes opened, and her left hand started to rise up as if she was seeing something.  She looked surprised maybe.  What was happening was the fulfillment of that promise of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  Mary was with Dorothy all throughout her life and why wouldn’t she be with Dorothy at the moment when she made the most important journey of her existence, the passage from death to life. 

One thing we can say as we lay our mother, grandmother, sister, and friend to rest is that God is faithful to those who love him.  God, who begins all the good work in us, does and will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus.  The day of Christ Jesus for Dorothy was on Saturday the day dedicated to our Lady.  We hope and pray in this Mass that he has completed his day in Dorothy’s life. 

May we who remain honor and love our mother, grandmother, sister and friend by living our faith with trust like Dorothy did.  Let us pray that one day we shall be reunited again in the peace of God’s kingdom.

(Together we pray) Jesus, remember her when you come into your kingdom.