Funeral for Br. Elias
“But each day is a first creation. Not one is like another. I never stop creating. And it is all for all of you. If I didn’t hold you up, you would cease to exist. Will you love Me enough to thank Me for it? “This continuous creation of your body and your power of thinking comes fromMy everlasting love.So sing praises to Me. Sing with your body and your mind, as though you had begun this song at your birth and meant to continue it right to the moment of your death, only to take it up again for all eternity.
Bossis, Gabrielle. He and I (Kindle Locations 3474-3478).
Pauline Books and Media. Kindle Edition.
Our existence is a pure gift. It is true life can be very difficult, yet it is very short in its duration, no matter the length. Our Br. Elias had a long life. His pilgrimage was spent seeking God. Being a unique human being, he lived it differently than others, yet was also on the same path as many others. He had gifts, and he also had, because he was so very human, a side that was dark. It is that tension that brings us to moments of important choices on which path we are going to follow. He was a man who sought the wisdom that comes from the love of God.
It is often said that funerals or in reality for the living. A way to say goodbye, and to express one’s grief publicly. I believe that is true. However, in those threads of Christianity that are more inclined to place great emphasis on the sacraments, it is also a time to pray for the soul of the one who passed. I believe that it is a great loss that many Christians do not believe this. I do believe that God continues to heal us after we die. We have depths that only his grace can touch. So the connection is not broken at death, it only becomes more intimate.
Our Br. Elias has entered fully into the Mind Of Christ, something he sought all of his life. The journey is eternal I believe. For what can be more wondrous than the mind of Infinite Intelligence, or the Immeasurable love of a reality that is love itself as revealed in Jesus Christ.
St. Paul talks about the trial by fire that we will each go through after death:
…13his workmanship will be evident because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will prove the quality of each man’s work. 14If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as if through the flames.…
This ‘Fire’ is the love of God, the light of the Holy Spirit, and the embrace of our loving Father. I will involve some pain, because it is healing, but will also come with great joy because of the openness of the heart to God’s love and will.
We remember all of our dead one day a month, a reminder to continue to lift all of those who pass before us, those in the community, our families and friends, as well as all of our brothers and sister in the world who have passed on. We are one in Christ Jesus with those who have an open heart to God’s love as shown to us in Jesus Christ.
The grace and mercy of Jesus Christ is an ongoing affair towards us his children. We can fall into the trap of judging others, especially those outside of our own faith tradition. So Jesus told us not to judge:
1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye Matthew 7: 1-5
Br. Elias longed to be free and the Lord heard him. At his funeral we planted him in the earth, and prayed that he will continue to bear fruit for the Kingdom and not forget us pilgrims left behind.-Br.MD
Mark Dohle, A moment ago Edit Report
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