And how was the funeral? Funeral? Oh yeah, we went to a funeral... The funeral was good, I guess. The funeral and prayers were held at Holy Family Parish in Regina. I will refrain from going into depth regarding the circle church, privation of beauty, missing tabernacle, female prayer service 'presider', gay couple sitting in the front, and so forth. I will, however, say that I was annoyed with the canonization ceremony.
For the record, Uncle Lucien endured a lot of suffering at the end of his life. As I've seen with many people, this end of life suffering turns out to be a great blessing in disguise. As far as I know, Uncle used this time of great hardship to prepare for death. To prepare for death is to above all receive and cherish the Sacraments, and pray like there's no tomorrow, quite literally.
Having said this, we need to pray for his soul. Heck, we need to pray for the souls of all those who die! I remember when Pope John Paul II died. It seemed like everyone was already proclaiming him a saint. Well I was talking with the ever wise Mr. John Paul Meenan of Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy. He almost shocked me when he came out and said that he would keep praying for the good Pope's soul until the Church declared JPII to be in heaven. What? But the Pope was so... so... holy! But good ol' "Mr. Meenan" went on to explain that nobody in the whole world has more responsibility than the Pope. One small mistake by the Pope can affect millions, or even billions of people. No, it's too great of a responsibility and burden being a Pope. It's too overwhelming. And so "Mr. Meenan" told us to pray for the repose of the soul of Pope John Paul II. Words of wisdom. They remind me of St. Monica, the holy mother of St. Augustine. Even St. Ambrose, the great Bishop of Milan, marveled at the faith of St. Monica. Yet, when St. Monica was dying she pleaded with those around her: "do not remember me in anything, except when at the altar of Our Lord." In other words: "[Pray for my soul!!! Especially at Mass!]" If St. Monica had this concern, how much more so should we?
And so this finally brings me back to Uncle Lucien's funeral weekend. It was indeed poignant to hear the differences between those "presiding" or preaching vs. the actual prayers of the Church.
"Presider" - "as he looks down on us from heaven."
Church prayer - We beseech you O Lord...
Eulogist - "as he's up there at the Pearly Gates right now..."
Church prayer - let us earnestly pray that our God, who is rich in mercy, will forgive our brother all his offenses and welcome him home to a place of peace and rest
Priest - "I know he's up there with Jesus right now..."
Church prayer - Drive far from this soul, we pray you, O Lord, all the powers of darkness
And so on and so forth.
Why do we canonize those who die? To make us feel better? Why is the funeral now referred to as a celebration of their life? To make us forget that purgatory and hell are still viable options for those who die?
I can just imagine Mr. Meenan's reaction if I told him this story. He'd mutter a few angry words about sin and prayer. He'd stammer something about the Last Things, and Aquinas' teaching on the nature of love. Then he'd go quietly to the Blessed Sacrament and pray for the soul of Uncle Lucien.
May the soul of Uncle Lucien,
and the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of God,
rest in peace.
Amen.