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Dear
Friends in Christ-
There
is a time to be born and a time to die" (Ecci. 3:2) with
these words scripture reminds us of the reality of our
existence. Everyone must die, must pass over the waters of
death. Scripture also reminds us that in the twinkling of the
eye and at the sound blast of the trumpet the dead shall rise
again. God has placed
timelessness into our hearts. Through the saving waters of
Baptism we have
been immersed in the death of Christ so that we may also rise
with him to a newness
of life in our Father's house.
Until
that Great and Terrible Day when Christ shall come again in
all His Glory and the dead shall rise from their tombs, we
observe the ancient custom of honoring the dead with Christian
Burial. In burying the dead we imitate the burial of
Jesus to whom we are eternally joined in Faith. We the living
like Joseph of Arimathea
perform a sacred duty in burying the dead to await the
resurrection on the
last day. In the careful and prayerful Rites of Christian
Burial we recall the body,
which once housed the soul, is a temple of the Holy Spirit
(1Cor. 6:19).
"Blessed
are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted" this
Jesus teaches on the Mount of the Beatitudes. Our Catholic
Cemeteries are also places to find solace
amidst sorrow. Here on the consecrated ground of this cemetery
the living and the dead are joined in a communion of love and
faith. Here the prayers are offered for the salvation of these
poor souls. We pray God will be merciful
in judging the poverty of those buried here and fill them with
the richness of
his loving mercy
When
you visit here remember the words God spoke to Moses on Sinai,
"The place
where your feet are standing is Holy Ground". It is made
holy by sacred rites, by the dead buried here, by the living
who offer supplication and thanksgiving and by the presence of
God's Children who visit.
We
do indeed grieve but as St. Paul reminds us, not like those
who have no hope. We are certain that one day we shall all be
united again; this is our sure and
certain hope.
Our
Lady of Sorrows, Pray for us!
Eternal
Rest grant unto them O'Lord and Light Perpetual Shine upon
them! Amen.
In
the Lord of Life,
Fr.
John P. Bambrick
Pastor
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