In Memory of Rick and Gene

Increasing in faith in the face of death

11/11/2019

Luke 17:1-6 Jesus said to his disciples, "Things that cause sin will inevitably occur, but woe to the one through whom they occur. It would be better for him if a millstone were put around his neck and he be thrown into the sea than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, 'I am sorry,' you should forgive him." And the Apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." The Lord replied, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you."

For Christians Sundays are supposed to be filled with rest from labor and resurrection to new life. But yesterday turned out to be exactly the opposite experience for me and for two Immaculate Conception families: it felt like a day marked by death and despair. I hope you have already heard the sad news, and I apologize if you’re hearing it first from me, instead of directly from the affected families. Yesterday, Rick Reedy, while hunting in Kansas, died of a heart attack. He and his family had all become Catholic four years ago here at I.C.

Also, last night, our beloved Gene Bruick suffered a massive heart attack and died at Mercy Hospital. I was able to give Gene the Last Rites last night. Last Saturday, Gene played golf, one of his favorite things to do, and Friday he helped me distribute Holy Communion at 7 a.m. Mass. Whenever he handed me the ciborium after distributing Communion, he would smile really big and wink at me. As you can imagine both families are distraught and struggling with this unexpected tragedy. As a parish family, we all suffer when any one person suffers, and so we join them in grieving their loss, which is also our loss. As you pastor, the spiritual father of our parish family, here at three thoughts of how I’m dealing with their deaths, and maybe it will help you handle your own grief a little more faithfully and a little more fruitfully.

First, there’s an old proverb that teaches – you know you’re getting older when you know more people in heaven than on earth. Yesterday, I felt like I aged twenty years in visiting the Reedy family at home and the Bruick family in the hospital. Tragic deaths of loved one has an uncanny way of inducing maturity and growth. Death makes “days” feel like “years” of life. Death ages us. The surplus value of dealing with death, however, lies in seeing heaven as our home, populated by those we love, and who await our passage home to them. Every Christian should live with one foot on earth and the other foot in heaven. And every funeral we attend should make us want to have both feed in heaven, which is where we pray Rick and Gene’s feet are trodding today. There are a lot of people waiting and waving “hello” to Rick and Gene on the sunny shores of heaven than there are people waving “good-bye” to them here in this vale of tears on earth. Death makes you grow up fast.

Secondly, death opens our eyes and helps us to have more faith. The Apostles beg Jesus in the gospel today: “Increase our faith.” Jesus answered that prayer by all his amazing miracles and astounding teachings. But perhaps his greatest answer to increase their faith was by his own death and resurrection. On Good Friday and Easter Sunday, Jesus opened the eyes of faith of the Apostles to see that he had come to give them abundant life, as he said in John 10:10. But they would experience that abundance fully in heaven. Jesus has not forgotten his promise of giving abundant life to Rick and Gene either. How so? When we look at death with the eyes of faith, we see Jesus also wants to bless them with the glorious resurrection he himself experienced. Yesterday I read Psalm 23 with the Reedy family and I gave Gene the Apostolic Pardon. Those two prayers can help increase our faith in Jesus’ resurrection, and also in Rick and Gene’s resurrection. Death can increase our faith.

Thirdly, the death of a loved one fills the Mass with more meaning, at least for me. Every day before I celebrate Mass, I look at the little piece of paper on the altar that shows the “intention” for the Mass, usually the name of a deceased loved one. A wry smile crosses my face because I usually officiated at most of their funeral Masses. Every time I celebrate the Mass, therefore, I feel a spiritual closeness and contact with those who have died. Now, I will feel especially close to Rick and Gene at every Mass. At the Last Supper before our Lord suffered and died, he commanded his apostles: “Do this in memory of me.” By extension, every Mass is also a chance to “remember” all those who have died in Christ, and now to remember Rick and Gene. The Mass makes people feel close especially when death makes them feel far away. The Mass is often called the “medicine of immortality,” not only for those who have died, but also for us who are still living on earth. That is one reason Catholics are required to attend Mass every Sunday: so that no matter how close death comes, Sunday will still feel like a day of rest from labor and resurrection to new life.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Praised be Jesus Christ!