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On the Eve of a Funeral

Tomorrow I'm officiating a sermon for someone I've never met.  It is for a 97 year old woman who was a life-long Episcopalian but had moved from her home town in the last few years so her son (Roman Catholic) went looking for an Episcopal priest to do her funeral.  It is a strange, but beautiful, position to be in.  I get to see pictures of this stranger, who is my unknown sister in faith.  I get to hear stories about her life -- her adventures, her sorrows, her quirks.  And I get to be with her family in this time that is so poignant for them as they remember and love and celebrate her.  For some sacraments I find that knowing the person really matters.  In marriage ceremony, I feel more joyous the more I know the couple and know something about their love and support for one another.  In baptism, I feel much more confident when I know that we as a congregation really and truly will be able to do all in our power to support this person in their life of faith because we really and truly have a relationship with them.  Even in the Eucharist I find it incredibly meaningful and humbling to give bread to someone when I know a little bit about their life story.  But for a funeral, I can say and pray the beautiful words of the Episcopal liturgy and without knowing the person a bit, feel perfectly assured that they are true.  This person is the Lord's possession, a sheep of God's own fold.  Light perpetual shines upon her.  She now rests where sorrow and pain are no more, neither sighing, but life everlasting.  Alleluia!

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