THIS IS OUR FAITH - HOMILY @ FUNERAL MASS

 

Notes taken from homily by Rev Fr Simon Tan, CSsR

- at the Funeral Mass of 17 year old Alphonsus, son of a friend

At the start of his homily, Fr Simon invited us into an extended moment of silence, allowing us to quieten our hearts, and to become aware of God's presence, and the presence of Alphonsus among us.

This silence set the tone of Fr's somber yet uplifting message that followed.

Fr began by praying for the family, that the Word of God may heal them, and that the promises of God comfort them - that our Lord knows the anguish and pain in the stillness of their hearts.  He asked that the Lord's peace flow through each family member, that, despite their pain and grieve, His peace will be upon them.  And in the days to come, His Word may strengthen, comfort and heal them.

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Below is Fr Simon's homily 

(This is not a verbatim transcript, but notes I took during Fr's delivery. Any errors or omissions are my own.)

I pray that we do not forget the gems that we have heard, and that Fr's wise words will continue to touch hearts.

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Fr Simon Tan:

"It is never easy on such an occasion.  

It is sad and it is painful, even for those who are here today.  How then can we, as a Catholic community, find our source of strength and comfort?  

Let us continue to believe in the words of the Eucharistic celebration.  Let us pay attention to the Eucharistic prayers at every mass.   The beauty of our faith and the beauty of the Christian liturgy is in every mass.  The beauty is also that Alphonsus is, at this very moment, celebrating the Eucharist with us.  This is our faith.

We gather to live in hope for the living.  And for those who have passed on in the mercy and love of God, they too gather with the same hope.   Alphonsus is no longer physically with us, but his soul and his spirit is united with us - unseen by us, but seen by God.  And God, in his love and mercy, embraces Alphonsus today.  This is our faith.

Memories are important and not forgotten.  I pray that memories of Alphonsus will always remain with his loved ones and friends.  Memories will stay in our hearts, they are powerful tools.  Memories of someone we love, although painful, can touch us, inspire us and motivate us to be better persons.

We have questions about death, and we know death is inevitable. We can never fully understand why such pain happens, but that is not important.  We do not run away from the pain and sorrow.  We let the presence of God in the Eucharist strengthen us.  We let the presence of God nurture us.  We let the living bread, which we are about to receive, deepen our faith.  

Let us open our hearts.  In every Eucharistic celebration, God unites not only the living who come as one body in Christ, but God unites us with the saints and all who die in his mercy.  This is the reality of God's love - reconciling us in the Eucharist.  

The Eucharist we all believe in is the source of our faith.  This is the Eucharist which comes into us, in every moment of our lives, and yet God does not judge but embraces our mind, our body and our soul.  Today, the church gather in pain and sorrow, we embrace the living God, He who embraces the soul and spirit of Alphonsus.

Fr Simon ended his homily with a prayer for the family

Lord, we thank You for the gift of life given to Alphonsus and for the faith given to him in his short time on earth.  In our human minds, we cannot understand.  But today, as we gather at Church, we believe it is Your time, Lord, and not our time.  We can only say thank You in spite of our pain and sorrow.

We thank You for the 17 years of Alphonsus' life  Today you have called him.  Lord You know our hearts because You are our Lord and You are our Creator.  We gather as a church community to support the family in hope.  

Lord, strengthen our faith and our hope.  In difficult times like these, as we gather in one faith community, we trust in You who have revealed yourself to us.  In the pain and sorrow of Alphonsus' family, may your presence manifested at this Eucharistic celebration continue to strengthen them, touch them and heal them."

Eternal rest grant unto Alphonsus, O Lord,

and let Your perpetual light shine upon him.

May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed

rest in peace.

Amen.