Sand in Daughter's Eyes & Children Martyrs of Iraq

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Parish of the Month: St. Claire's Church, Roseville, CA (March 2015)

Today, I was at St. Claire's in Roseville for a Deacon Continuing Education Day.

There were about 75-100 deacons with many of them with their wives.  I told one of the deacon wives who interviewed me almost 6 years ago how things were going, and she said that I was doing too much for the parish.  I told her that I would pass on her comment to my wife.  Perhaps I will blog about her one day.  A wife of a deacon is the deacon's first bishop.  And even though the topic for the day was ecumenism, her lesson for that brief few minutes I spent with her was the best lesson all day!

But the main reason why I wanted to blog this day was because, right above the altar, there was a picture of the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary.  I wasn't sure of the significance since St. Claire is typically not associated with the Hearts of Our Lord and Our Lady.  In any event, the designers of this parish church designed the Hearts into the sacred art.  So I wanted to highlight this parish here.

Here's the photo:





The other notable aspect of the parish is that the handicap parking outside also included pregnant mothers.  I thought this was very welcoming of life. 

The sign stated, "Courtesy Parking for Seniors or Expectant Mothers."

Great sign!  I hope some silly high school senior doesn't end up parking there.

Concerning the first picture here, I am impelled to highlight parishes that feature the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  My own home parish has a (removable) picture of the Immaculate Heart.  Perhaps I can do something like "Parish of the Month" or "Parish of the Week" whenever I encounter a parish with Mary's Immaculate Heart.

Her Heart, after all, is very, very biblical.

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Actually, with this post, I am instituting a "Parish of the Month" recognition system.  Let's see if this catches on this blog.  :)

Congratulations, parishioners of St. Claire's in Roseville, California.  For your beautiful portrayal of the Twin Hearts of Jesus and Mary above the holy sanctuary, your parish is hereby awarded (the first of hopefully many awards for) the "Parish of the Month Award" for March 2015. 

Congratulations!

Rite for the Blessing of a Child in the Womb (Outside Mass)



[Credit for all photos/videos on this blog page: Arman Jorelle Nati]



Homily #25

 
Vallejo, California, USA

 March 9, 2015

 

 

 Prayer of Blessing (for the child in the womb)
 

 

God, author of all life,

bless, we pray, this unborn child;

give constant protection

and grant a healthy birth

that is the sign of our rebirth one day

into the eternal rejoicing of heaven (RBCW 19).

 



  

 

 Prayer of Blessing (for the mother)

  

 

Lord, who have brought to this woman

the wondrous joy of motherhood,

grant her comfort in all anxiety

and make her determined

to lead her child along the ways of salvation (RBCW 19).

 



 Prayer of Blessing (for the father)

Lord of the ages,

who have singled out this man

to know the grace and pride of fatherhood,

grant him courage in this new responsibility,

and make him an example of justice and truth for this child (RBCW 19).



 Prayer of Blessing (for the family)

 

Lord, endow this family

with sincere and enduring love

as they prepare to welcome this child into their midst (RBCW 19).

 

 

 

 

RCIA: Apostles' Creed is Like "I Love You"

Homily #24


RCIA Retreat
San Damiano Retreat Chapel
Danville, CA

Second Friday of Lent
March 6, 2015
8pm


Elect: Shelly
Candidate: Grace

With about an hour to prepare for a homily, this is how my notes looked like:

 

 





State of the Blog (By Country)

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Light of the Transfiguration

10am Mass (Version #1 - slower)

 

8am Mass (Version #2 - faster)

 

 

So, in summary, let us remember:

1.)  The Transfiguration is a foretaste of victory.  (We are not fighting for victory, but we are fighting from victory.  The battle has already been won.)

2.)  The Transfiguration encourages in the face of suffering and death.

3.)  The Transfiguration helps us to get back up when we have fallen into sin.

4.)  The Transfiguration can be celebrated by going to Confession and praying the luminous mysteries of the rosary, especially during Lent.

 

* * *

HOMILY #23: The Light of the Transfiguration

Second Sunday of Lent

March 1, 2015

8am & 10am Masses

(Total assembly: 1,500 parishioners from 2 Masses)

 

Over the past few days, I was involved with giving my first funeral homily and vigil homily for one of my godmothers.  She died on Ash Wednesday.  At the hour of her death, the local parish priest was actually present at her house.  This was indeed a great blessing because the priest said that he had about 10,000 parishioners and visitors come and go at his parish all day for the Ash Wednesday liturgies.  After giving her what would be become her final Sacraments, he then started to impose ashes on her forehead.  And after she had ashes imposed on her forehead, she passed away quietly and peacefully. 

 

 

 In a somewhat similar story, at the final moments of my baptismal godmother’s passing from this life, I was told that my godmother in her suffering had even moments of panic facing death; however, she eventually had her eyes fixed on a picture of the Divine Mercy of Jesus which greatly consoled her while looking at that picture.  Her last words were, “God, I trust You” before passing away peacefully.
 

 These are dramatic examples of not just any deaths, but they are Christian deaths.  Even with the fear they may have experienced, their faith in Jesus, their receiving the last Sacraments, and their use of sacramental pictures strengthened them by giving them a foretaste of the glory of the next life in their final moments on earth. 
 

 And here is the first major point of what is called the Transfiguration in today’s Gospel: The Transfiguration is a glimpse of glory and a foretaste of victory while on the way to the Cross.  (Repeat: The Transfiguration is a glimpse of glory and a foretaste of victory while on the way to the Cross.)  Jesus’ face and clothes become dazzling with a great light.  The Transfiguration is a mystery of light or a luminous mystery.  How many of us who have a difficult, unpleasant task to do are strengthened even if just a little bit when we call to mind a quick thought of the joy of completing that unpleasant task?  In a somewhat similar way, Jesus in His Transfiguration discloses, reveals and gives us a foretaste, a brief snap shot, a type of teaser, of his victorious Resurrection and glorious Second Coming (when he will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body) (cf. CCC 556).  The Gospel today ends with the line that the Apostles questioned among themselves what rising from the dead meant, so Jesus gradually reveals the glory of his resurrection in the face of his bloody crucifixion and death.
 

 The second major point is this: Knowing that he will eventually face his death in Jerusalem, and knowing that his Twelve Apostles would be severely tried by his crucifixion, Jesus in His Transfiguration strengthens and encourages those who know they must endure suffering and the scandal of his death.  Peter, James and John were witnesses to the Transfiguration.  In Byzantine Catholic liturgy, the priest prays, [read slowly] “You were transfigured on the mountain, and your disciples, as much as they were capable of it, beheld your glory, O Christ our God, so that when they should see you crucified they would understand that your Passion was voluntary, and proclaim to the world that you truly are the splendor of the Father.”  The scandal of the Cross that the chosen witnesses Peter, James, and John would undergo would be removed from their hearts.  We, like them, may be going through something drastic right now – whether our health, our jobs or finances, our loved ones, or something else that is worrying us – and in these moments that scare us to death, go up briefly with Jesus on the mountain.  Do this especially at Mass.  Yet, even if we want to stay on the glory of the mountain like Peter who wanted to pitch a tent, we must eventually, at some point, come down from the glory of the mountain and endure the Cross.  But we do so with some encouragement from Jesus.
 

According to Bl. Anne Catherine Emmerich, a German mystic nun who bore the stigmata – the wounds of Our Lord – and had visions of the Passion of Christ, stated that Peter, James and John were three chosen witnesses because they who experienced the glory of the Transfiguration would later experience the disfiguration of the Son of Man in the Garden of Gethsemane.  They would be not in a cloud of glory but rather in a cloud of desolation and agony.  Jesus’s disfiguration in the Garden would have scandalized the Twelve Apostles, and later it would be Peter’s, James’s, and John’s role to in turn strengthen the others after seeing the Transfiguration.  Perhaps this is why Jesus told them to keep what they saw to themselves until later.

 

And here is the third major point on the Transfiguration.  For us today who are in the second week of the 40 days of the Lenten discipline, for us who may have fallen from our Lenten resolutions, or for us who have relapsed into old habits of sin, today – today – is a good day to get back up and to not get discouraged if or when we have failed in our efforts in prayer, fasting, and the works of love.  Following Jesus is not just about the glory of the Resurrection but it is also about picking up our Crosses after falling.  As followers of Jesus, we are called to suffer for Him and with Him.  And to die for Him and with Him at the end of our lives.  “Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful ones,” as we sang from the Psalms today.  We see this today in Africa, the Middle East, and South East Asia where Christians are being killed for their faith by ISIS.  [At 10am Mass, I departed from the prepared homily text and spoke of the Catholic Church as a champion of human rights, of the poor, the oppressed, the voiceless.]  There is a cost to being a disciple of Jesus (and during Lent, the devil will intensify his efforts against us.  Just like Jesus in the desert, Satan will try to chip away at our relationship with Jesus.  He will tempt us to compromise with our Lenten resolutions and even leave Jesus or leave the Church.  But know that this is not from God).

 

[For 10am Mass: In a particular way, I turn to our catechumen preparing to become Catholic (and to our candidate preparing for Confirmation).  During the season of Lent, the devil will increase his activity and hatred against you.  If you’ve had thoughts of not undertaking this life-long commitment you are making to live a full Catholic life, know that that is not from God.  Before the glory of Easter, we must experience the trials of Lent.  Be faithful, as Abraham was faithful in his testing, as we saw in today’s First Reading.  Let the words of the Lord to Abraham console you, “I swear by myself…that because you acted as you did….I will bless you abundantly”.  If we have taught you about the Cross, and how to carry it with all its heaviness in love, then we have taught you well the wisdom of the Cross.  As we prayed in the Responsorial Psalm, “I believed, even when I said, I am greatly afflicted.”]
 

Finally, there are two ways to live out the message of the Transfiguration and the Cross during Lent.  One really excellent way we can experience the glory of the Transfiguration is to go to Confession at least once during Lent.  In this Sacrament of Reconciliation, we experience the transforming love and mercy of the Father who, like Abraham, did not spare his own Son, as we heard proclaimed in Paul’s Letter to the Romans in the Second Reading.  Remember, we don’t just offend God with sin, but we offend our neighbor; so, too, we are reconciled to not just God, but reconciled with our neighbor and to the Church.  It was His voice that said, "This is my Beloved Son.  Listen to him."

 

 

Another Lenten exercise is to pray the Transfiguration in the rosary, especially on Thursdays.  The Transfiguration is the 4^th Mystery of Light or the 4^th Luminous Mystery.  The Mysteries of Light or the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary are, first, the Baptism of Jesus; second, the Miracle at Cana; third, the Announcement of the Kingdom; fourth, the Transfiguration; and the fifth luminous mystery is the Institution of the Eucharist.  (Repeat if time allows.)

So, in summary, let us remember:

1.)  The Transfiguration is a foretaste of victory.  (We are not fighting for victory, but we are fighting from victory.  The battle has already been won.)

2.)  The Transfiguration encourages us in the face of suffering and death.

3.)  The Transfiguration helps us to get back up when we have fallen into sin.

4.)  The Transfiguration can be celebrated by going to Confession and praying the luminous mysteries of the rosary, especially during Lent. 

Like my godmother who breathed her last after ashes were imposed on her forehead and my other godmother who had the name of God on her dying breath, let us too at the end of our lives share the victory united to our Beloved Jesus and, not just at the end of this Lenten journey but even at the end of our very lives on earth, faithfully carry our Cross to the glory and victory of the Resurrection in the life of the world to come.  Amen.

Credit: www.catholicmannight.com

 



2 Homilies for Ruby Soriano RIP

Vigil Homily for Ninang Ruby Soriano (Homily #21)

Funeral homily for Ninang Ruby Soriano (Homily #22) 

Support Ruby Soriano's family: http://www.gofundme.com/mamaruby

* * *
 

VIGIL HOMILY

Castro Valley, CA

Feb. 26, 2015

Ruby Esperanza Soriano is my godmother in marriage, so I call her Ninang Ruby.  Cheryl and Chancy are first cousins to my wife.  My name is Deacon Dennis, and I am a new permanent deacon of the Catholic Church.  I would like to give a very warm welcome to all of you.  And on behalf of Ruby’s parish church, please accept our deepest condolences, especially to Ninong Adel, Cheryl, Chancy, to Auntie Nene, and family.  When I first met Ninang Ruby 16 years ago, little did I know that I would be giving my first funeral vigil homily for her.    

The purpose of this vigil is for “the Christian community to keep watch with the family in prayer to the God of mercy and find strength in Christ’s presence” (Order of Christian Funerals #56).  We keep watch with the family tonight in preparation for what is called the “Final Commendation” of her soul to God at tomorrow’s funeral Mass.   

Thankfully, the Word of God consoles the pain of our great loss.  As we heard in the First Reading, a reading chosen by the family, it is written in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, “The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces….”  It is the Lord God Who is the Divine Consoler.  May these words from Isaiah be a source of comfort when we are alone in the silence missing her deeply, when tears run and no one on earth is able to wipe them away.  Let us pray for Ninang Ruby’s soul.  At this moment, may her soul, and even our own souls pray together the words:  “Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us!  This is the Lord for whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that he has saved us!” 

My strongest memory of Ninang Ruby is her strong devotion to her family and extended family as well as her strong devotion to her faith in God.  Faith and family— these are two great treasures that have forever defined Ninang Ruby and her choices in this earthly life.  It wasn’t just a typical devotion to family, or an average devotion to faith, but it was a STRONG devotion to her family and a STRONG devotion to faith.

Ninang Ruby’s strong faith and passing from this life into the next life remind us of our vocation to holiness, the Four Last Things, and the Communion of the Saints.  Jesus tells us “be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  Our earthly lives are meant to be a pilgrimage on this earth to our eternal dwelling place with God in Heaven.  Ninang Ruby’s peaceful passing reminds us of our eternal destiny, which God has prepared for “those who keep His covenant and remember to fulfill His precepts,” as we heard in the responsorial psalm.  Ninang Ruby’s passing reminds us of our mortality, of the passing things of this earth, how nothing lasts forever, except Love, as St. Paul reminds us.  And so tonight, why do we keep watch in prayer?  We keep watch and pray for Ninang Ruby’s soul because of the Four Last Things, which are Death, Judgment, Heaven and Hell.  May, God willing, we may all be reunited in Heaven with Ninang Ruby one day.

In Catholic teaching, at the moment of death, the soul is separated from the body.  It experiences what is called a particular judgment.  The soul enters into one of three states at the particular judgment: Heaven, Purgatory or Hell.  A soul that dies in the state of grace, in the state of friendship with God, enters heaven.  A soul that dies in the state of grace, but with stain on the soul, eventually enters into Heaven, but still needs to be purified.  Hell is the state of separation from God and the society of the damned.  Souls in purgatory benefit greatly from the prayers of those on earth who are in the state of grace.  Our souls must be conformed to Christ at the end of our lives.

Ninang Ruby died a Christian death.  She didn’t die just a death.  She died a Christian death.  She died a death in a manner like her Savior.  She showed us what it means to die what is called a happy death—a Christian death, which is a great grace indeed!  She experienced a death similar to that of Jesus on the Cross.  All her sufferings, especially endured in the state of grace, are united to the sufferings of Jesus on the Cross to save the world.  This is the Christian meaning of human suffering.  She was faithful, not just at the end of her life, but throughout her life.   

And this is the message of hope this evening.  It is a hope that St. Paul describes in his Letter to the Romans that we heard this evening.  It is a hope that “does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us”.  Ninang Ruby gives us a glimpse of someone who included God in her life.  In her final week, she received the Bread of Life, the Eucharist, and the Last Sacraments of the Holy Church: The Eucharist, which is the Body of Christ, Confession, Anointing of the Sick.   

She had a strong devotional life to the Mother of Jesus, the Woman that Christ on the Cross gave to us when he said, “Behold your Mother.”  Ninang Ruby understood this 2,000 year old tradition of honoring Jesus’s mother through the holy rosary which is the mark of great saints in heaven.  These are great marks of a Catholic in love with Jesus Christ.

In the Communion of Saints, the souls of those on Earth are united with those in Purgatory and those in Heaven.  Just as I would ask you for your prayers or you would ask me for my prayers, so too we ask those souls in Heaven to pray for us, and more so!  The souls in purgatory greatly benefit from our prayers on earth,  especially at Mass when Mass is offered for that soul.   

Having Mass offered for Ninang Ruby’s soul is the greatest act of love we can offer her AND stay united to her.  Every Mass that we attend, we are united with heaven, purgatory, and earth across time and space.  When Holy Communion is received in the state of grace, the soul of Ninang Ruby is delighted with great indescribable joy.  This is why we are united to her until the Resurrection at the end of time.  We will encounter this sacred moment tomorrow at the funeral Mass.

Ninang Ruby taught us the need to be in the state of friendship with God, also called being in the state of grace.  The state of grace is needed for one to go to heaven (and even purgatory).  Our choices for or against God define the state of our soul for all eternity.  And this dear soul of Ninang Ruby has chosen well.  This should be an inspiration for us all.  May her faith – especially her love for the rosary – be a model for all of us.  As we reflect on her life in the next few months and even years, let’s consider this most vital part of her life as an example.

And Ninang Ruby who was united with Jesus on the Cross will also share in his resurrection.  Her pain in her final moments was united to Jesus.   Ninang Ruby showed us the Christian meaning of human suffering by patiently and joyfully bearing her sufferings for the love of Jesus, Mary and for her family.  And in today’s Gospel, also selected by the family, Jesus said to the dead young man, “Arise!”  Only Jesus raises from the dead.  He is THE Resurrection and THE Life.  No one comes to the Father except through Him.  It is Ninang Ruby’s deep faith in Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life that is, God-willing, the source of her own resurrection on the Last Day when her soul will we pray be one day reunited with a glorified body. 

I briefly catechized us on the meaning of the Particular Judgment where the soul enters into one of three states: Heaven, Hell or Purgatory.  The Particular Judgment, however, is different from the General Judgment.  At the General Judgment, Christ will return to judge the living and the dead at the end of the world.  At the General Judgment, all souls will reunite with their bodies.  The souls in heaven and even purgatory will reunite with a resurrected glorified body to the degree that they have loved on earth, while the souls of the society of the damned will reunite with a condemned body.  In heaven, we will see God face to face and be reunited with those there where God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and there will be no more sadness, no more pain, no more death.  That is why we must desire and eagerly hope to go to heaven one day.  Now is the time to ask for mercy and live a godly life as Ninang Ruby did, because after we die, there will be no more time to repent and change our lives to God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent to save us from sin and final death.  Let Ninang Ruby’s death during this Lenten Season be a time of spiritual growth for all of us.  And God-willing, may we all be reunited with her in the life to come.  That is the beauty of our faith, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Who merited for us our eternal salvation with Him and all the saints in Heaven.

And so, dear family and friends, we the Church prepare Ninang Ruby for her final “commendation to God” (CCC 1690) and God’s mercy tomorrow.  As we prayed in the Responsorial Psalm, the Lord is “kind and merciful”.  The divine mercy of God is like going to Ocean Beach in the City of San Francisco, and like taking all of our sins, and placing them in a tiny drop of water, and throwing this drop into the ocean of mercy.  We simply need to ask for it, as Ruby did in her final moments of receiving the holy Sacraments.   

He thirsts that we might thirst for Him.  So many graces are withheld simply because we don’t ask.  So, let us “ask” as Jesus tells us to do, so that God may pour forth every good and perfect blessing under the heavens upon each and every one of us, especially on the soul of Ninang Ruby. 

Let us this evening at this Vigil stand in watch with Ninang Ruby’s family and meditate on the Word of God for consolation.  Thank you Ninong Adel, thank you Cheryl, and thank you Chancy, to you and your families.  Thank you for sharing Ninang Ruby with us.

+ Eternal rest grant unto the soul of Ninang Ruby Soriano, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her.  May her soul rest in peace.  Amen.

***

FUNERAL MASS HOMILY

St. Edward’s Catholic Church, Newark, CA

February 27, 2015

Nine days ago, it was Ash Wednesday.  It was in the middle of the 5 o’clock hour when Ninang Ruby passed from this life.  Fr. Jay, the priest who is with us today, was present at the hour of her death.  I’m sure I repeat the sentiments of the family when I say thank you, thank you Fr. Jay, for being there during Ruby’s last breath and for her family.  To use the words of St. Paul in the Bible who called himself a “father in Christ,” you were indeed a true spiritual father for Ruby Soriano’s spiritual birth and passing into the next life.  Please also convey to the pastor of St. Edward’s, Fr. Jeff Keyes, one of my priest friends, the deepest appreciation.

And a few moments after Ninang Ruby died, her young granddaughter, Me’Leah (or Keilyn), turned to her parents and said, “I don't want to live in a world without Mama.”  The little girl was referring to her grandmother and how much she loved her.  In a certain sense, she was saying, “I don't want to live in a world without Mama.” 

“Mama’s love…”

Love— it is one of the three theological virtues.  The other two are faith and hope.  At the funeral vigil last night, we reflected on Ninang Ruby’s strong faith in God and the hope of the Resurrection on the Last Day.  We also reflected on the Communion of Saints, the Four Last Things, and the need to live and die in the state of grace.  Being in the state of grace means that we have love (or charity) in our souls.  It means that we are in the state of friendship with God and are thus pleasing to Him.

At our baptism, we were infused with three theological virtues: Faith, Hope and Love (Love is sometimes translated as Charity).  These theological virtues were planted in our souls at Baptism like tiny seeds are planted in soil.  But faith, hope and love need to be watered with a regular sacramental life so as to grow and bear fruit.  I also understand that Ninang Ruby’s maiden name before she was married for 37 years, is Esperanza.  Esperanza.  Hope.  Her name – and her family tree – carries the name of the theological virtue of hope.  May it be more than just a name, but a lived reality in the family line.

When Ninang Ruby was baptized, a white garment was placed on her during the Rite of Baptism.  The baptismal ritual stated that she is to keep the white garment unstained into the next life.  At Mass, the priest wears white to signify this.  At Ninang Ruby’s First Holy Communion, she wore white when she received the Body of Christ for the first time.  And this morning, just as at her baptism and at her First Holy Communion, her funeral rite will cover her in her last earthly white garment.  She will be like a bride prepared to meet her husband.  The white garment is the garment of love of Jesus Christ, being in the state of grace, of having the divine life of Jesus’s very Body and Blood, of living the life of faith, esperanza, and love.

As we heard in the Word of God, it is written in the Book of Revelation, “I also saw the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”.  This holy city, this New Jerusalem, is the Church in love with her Beloved Jesus.  The New Jerusalem is the resurrection of God’s holy people at the end of time.  She is the Bride of Christ, the House of the Lord, the Church, and she wears the white wedding garment.  She is adorned and prepared; that is, purified and made ready for her husband, the Lamb of God, through her own Crosses just like her Beloved.  As we pray during the Mass, “Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb!”  The white garment that adorns Ruby (now) is the preparation of a bride adorned for her husband.  It represents the divine life of faith, hope and love.
 

And at last night’s vigil, as we stood watch with the Soriano family and our sorrows were consoled with the Word of God, we looked at the Book of the Prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament which said, “The Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces.”  Yes, let us weep.  Yes, let us cry.  Because God Himself is victorious over sin and death, and He Himself will wipe those tears one day.  We also see this in today’s reading from the Book of Revelation where it is written, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away.”  The one who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” 

Faith ends with sight.  In heaven, faith is no longer needed because those in heaven see God face to face.  Hope – esperanza – ends with attainment of heaven.  In heaven, hope is no longer needed because those in heaven, well, are in heaven.  Their hopes are fulfilled.  But love, love remains in heaven. 

And that’s why we should be in the state of grace, in the state of friendship with God, in the state of love, in the state of being adorned with the white garment as a bride adorned for her husband.  Like Ninang Ruby, we need to nourish the virtues of faith, hope and love in the soul with the Sacraments of the Holy Church; otherwise, faith, hope and love will rot and die like a dead branch.  After Baptism, there is the gift of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation to strengthen us against life’s daily temptations, so we have the graces and gifts needed to keep our wedding garment unstained.  There are also the Sacraments of Holy Matrimony, Anointing of the Sick, and most especially the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the Bread of Life.   

As we hear in today’s Gospel, Jesus said, “[w]hoever eats this bread will live forever”.  When they challenged Jesus about feeding us with His Flesh, he didn’t back away.  He didn’t say, “I’m sorry guys, (my bad,) I didn’t mean that,” but rather Jesus stood his ground even more and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, You…Do…Not..Have…Life…. within you.  John Chapter Six.  Ninang Ruby ate the flesh of the Son of Man.  Jesus said, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day”.   

This is why Sunday Mass every week is vital to nourishing faith, hope and love in the soul.  Without eating the Eucharist, we will be easily picked off and eaten by the wolves.  And when we do eat the Eucharist which is the Flesh of the Son of Man, we need to be in the state of grace and love, not in the state of what the Bible calls deadly or mortal sin.

It is serious sin that kills the life of grace in the soul from God.  Serious or deadly or mortal sin is the worst thing ever in this life.  With deadly or mortal sin, our wedding garment has been soiled.  The wedding garment has been stained.  Yes, faith still remains.  Yes, hope still remains.  But love is dead in the soul through serious sin.  The opposite of faith in God is….doubt….deliberate doubt.  The opposite of hope...is despair (like Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus).  The opposite of love, the opposite of being in the state of grace, is being in the state of sin. 

And if or when we do fall from grace, when we fall into deadly sin, that is why Jesus gave us the Sacrament of Reconciliation (also known as Confession) which restores the wedding garment back to baptismal innocence.  We confess our sins, and we start over.  We start over.  God says, “I make all things new!”  We just have to ask Him for another chance.  We must live and die rather in the state of grace, in the state of love, in the state of keeping our wedding garments adorned and prepared for the wedding feast of the Lamb of God.  “If we die with Christ, we shall live with him. And if we are faithful to the end, we shall reign with him.”

In our lives on earth, dearly beloved, let us not lose our faith, hope and love.  Let us nourish our faith, hope and love that was planted in our souls at baptism, with a fervent sacramental life, especially the Holy Eucharist every week – not just Christmas and Easter – and Confession at least once a year and, for those who really want to grow spiritually monthly Confession or even making a General Confession.  It is Lent, and now is a good time to restore our white garments.

And so, as we make our Final Commendation of the soul of Ruby to God, let us recommit ourselves to nourishing the gifts of faith, hope and love in our souls.  Let us, as with Ninang Ruby, live the life of grace and love.  Like Me’Leah who said, “I don't want to live in a world without Mama,” let us too like a little child (to whom the mysteries of the kingdom belong) say, “O God, I don't want to live in a world without You.”  Like Ruby, let us prepare our hearts always, as a bride adorned and prepared for her husband, coming down out of heaven.  On that day, God Himself, will wipe every tear from our eyes, those tears that we will shed for Ruby as we finally commend her soul to God, where there will be no more death or mourning, no wailing, no pain— only love.

 

In other words, in a sense, it’s like Ruby telling us, “I’ve asked the Lord to ease the hurt / And comfort you somehow. / It’s hard at the beginning, / But I know you’ll make it through. / I hope it helps to know / That I’ll be waiting here for you.”  You wait for us in the House of the Lord.  Thank you, Ruby, my sister, for your witness to faith and family.  We love you.  We offer this Holy Mass for you.  We ask God for mercy upon you for any failings and sins.  We ask God to grant you peace.  As we prayed in the Responsorial Psalm, “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing else that I shall want”  And may you, too, rejoice one day, as you wait for us to come home, and sing in the New Jerusalem, “The Lord is my shepherd; that is nothing I shall want”.   (Amen.)