Lost in His Love
Since this Sunday is November 2, the Church celebrates the Feast of All Souls, when the Church remembers all those who have gone before us. Since I came back to Birmingham in 2019, I have probably presided at funerals more than any other kind of special celebration. Many of the ones who have passed were elders of Holy Family or St. Mary’s, and I have realized what a gift many of that generation were to the life and the mission of these two parishes. The truth of the African proverb, “We stand on the shoulders of all those who have gone before us,” is borne out when we celebrate the lives of all these good people.
The options for the Scripture readings that I am using (Wisdom 3:1-9; Romans 5:5-11; John 6:37-40), all point to hope in the faithfulness of God. In our first reading from Wisdom, the author declares, “The souls of the just are in the hand of God and no torment shall touch them…Those who trust in him shall understand truth, and the faithful shall abide with him in love; because grace and mercy are with his holy ones, and his care is with his elect.” In our second reading from Romans, St. Paul writes,
“Hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us… God proves his love for us that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”
And in our Gospel reading, Jesus says, “Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day.” God is faithful!
In most funeral homilies, the reflection involves remembering the deceased and celebrating his or her life, remembering the love and faithfulness of God, and then looking at how we who are still here on earth are living our lives.
The words, “And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me” stood out for me.
In our divided times, it seems that we can be content to simply consider others as “lost,” or “lost causes.” It is tempting to just decide for ourselves that “these people” are beyond redemption or outside of God’s love and mercy. But like Jesus, we should not be content with people being lost – lost to poverty, lost to violence, lost to addiction, lost to hate or fear or despair. No one is outside of God’s love and mercy! It is true that people have free will, and some continue to isolate themselves and make bad choices. But there are many others searching, trying to find a way that makes sense to them. We shouldn’t just write them off or be lost in our own prejudices. Most of the funerals in which I presided or participated in have been of older folks. But some of them have been of people around my age (which I used to think of as old!), and some of them have been of people much too young, lost to illness or accident. But some have been lost to addiction or violence. We cannot say that the lives of these people don’t matter! We cannot blithely assert that they only got what they deserved. Their lives matter to God!
As we remember our loved ones who have died, may we keep in mind all those who are still with us. May we help others to find what they are looking for. And may we ourselves not get lost in hate or fear or prejudice of any kind, but rather in the words of the hymn, “Blessed Assurance,” be “filled with his goodness, lost in his love.”
I welcome any comments or questions. Thanks for your time.
In Christ,
Phil, CP
