Today I conducted the funeral Mass of parishioner Pat Lynch. For the opening of my homily I referred to the headstone of Fr John McLoone, former priest of a neighbouring parish. It contains a wonderful expression of our Christian hope in the face of mortality.
DEATH IS NOT EXTINGUISHING THE LIGHT, BUT IT IS PUTTING OUT THE LAMP BECAUSE DAWN HAS COME.
As Christians we need not fear death as the final end of our existence. We have been rescued from the clutches of eternal oblivion by the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. As we heard in last Sunday’s gospel “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who BELIEVES in him may not be lost but may have eternal life.”
Spend a few minutes reflecting on Fr John’s epitaph.
Fr Morty O'Shea 