'Let us not abandon them in death'

By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami

Photography: JONATHAN MARTINEZ | FC

Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily May 30, during a Memorial Day Mass at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Cemetery in North Lauderdale.

Today, we gather to honor our dead. On Memorial Day, also known as Decoration Day, we remember in a special way those who died while serving our country in our nation’s wars. Here on this sacred ground the mortal remains of many soldiers who died in action are buried. We remember them and we remember their comrades who came home but now also join them in death. And here are buried hundreds of men and women who honorably served in our nation’s armed forces.

President Lincoln’s words at Gettysburg still challenge us today:

“…(the) great task remaining before us…that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom; and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

And while we remember on this Decoration Day those who served in our nation’s armed forces, we are also mindful of the others who are buried or entombed here. On an Irish headstone were found these words: Death leaves a heartache that no one can heal but love leaves a memory no one can steal.

Grief is the pain of “letting go”; it is also a cross – a difficult cross – that we must carry; and no one should carry it alone. As we pray for the eternal repose of our dead, we also acknowledge with gratitude those who in our grief helped us. We remember our families and friends without whose support we would truly have been desolate; we acknowledge gratefully the ministry of those who attend to the bereaved in our parishes.

And here I would like also to mention the staff and administration of Queen of Heaven Cemetery. Their concern and their work to maintain this beautiful cemetery helps each one of us who has a loved one interned here to cherish even more dearly the memories of our deceased loved ones. Indeed, this cemetery was built and is maintained as a witness to our faith in the resurrection of the dead and to our hope in the life to come. And each year, on All Souls Day and on Memorial Day, the cemetery administration makes possible that Masses be offered for the repose of all who are buried or entombed here. St. Ambrose preached, “We have loved them during life; let us not abandon them in death, until we have conducted them by our prayers into the house of the Lord.”

Thus, even as we remember to the Lord our departed loved ones, we are reminded of the gift of Eternal Life promised us by Jesus Christ, who in dying destroyed our death and in rising restored us to life. As Catholics, we learned in the catechism of our youth that God made us to know him, to love him, to serve him in this life – and to be happy with him in the next. God did not create us in his own image and likeness just for us to die one day. He created us for himself. And to bring us to himself, he sent his Son Jesus Christ into the world, a man like us in all things but sin.

He suffered death – as each one of us must one day. But death does not have the final word in the history of our human race, nor is death the final end for any one of us. At the funeral Masses of our loved ones, we proclaim that for those who believe in Jesus Christ, crucified but risen from the dead, “life is changed not ended.” When our bodies lie in death our souls still live for and in the Lord. This is why we pray for them and commend their souls to the Lord and his Divine Mercy. And such prayers are by no means futile, as St. John Chrysostom (d. 407) stated: “Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation?”

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in which we always pray for the living and the dead is a celebration of hope – for each Mass is a foretaste or anticipation of that Heavenly Banquet that awaits us in heaven. Each celebration of the Eucharist has a cosmic dimension for in Christ, and through Christ and with Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, we join with all the angels and saints in offering fitting worship to our merciful Father. For this reason, the Mass is rightly called the source and the summit of our Christian lives.

In the third Eucharistic Prayer, when prayed during a funeral Mass for a departed brother or sister, the priest says: 

“Remember your servant N. whom you have called (today) from this world to yourself. Grant that he (she) who was united with your Son in a death like his, may also be one with him in his Resurrection, when from the earth he will raise up in the flesh those who have died, and transform our lowly body after the pattern of his own glorious body. To our departed brothers and sisters, too, and to all who were pleasing to you at their passing from this life, give kind admittance into your kingdom. There we hope to enjoy forever the fullness of your glory, when you will wipe away every tear from our eyes. For seeing you, our God, as you are, we shall be like you for all the ages and praise you without end, through Christ our Lord, through whom you bestow in the world all that is good.”

May the souls of all the faithful departed, especially those fallen in the service of this great nation, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Que las almas de todos los fieles difuntos, especialmente los caídos en el servicio de esta gran nación, por la misericordia de Dios, descansen en paz. Amen.