HOMILY
Mass of Remembrance – July 24, 2025
Isaiah 25:6a, 7-9; Romans 6:3-9; Luke 24:13-35
On the Feast of the Holy Family that we celebrated a few days after Christmas this past December, Pope Francis, in one of his last gifts to the Church, inaugurated the great Jubilee Year of Hope – a blessing to the People of God in so many ways – and a gift to all of us who gather for this Mass of Remembrance. Hope – something that we all seek as we attempt to navigate through the difficult and often painful world of grief and loss.
In announcing the Jubilee Year, Francis offered these poignant words that speak quite powerfully to our hearts this night. “By his presence in the life of the Church, the Holy Spirit illumines all believers with the light of hope. … Christian hope does not deceive or disappoint because it is grounded in the certainty that nothing and no one may ever separate us from God’s love: ‘Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or the sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord’(Rom 8:35.37-39).”
The Holy Father went on, “Here we see the reason why this hope perseveres in the midst of trials: founded on faith and nurtured by charity, it enables us to press forward in life. As Saint Augustine observes: ‘Whatever our state of life, we cannot live without these three dispositions of the soul, namely, to believe, to hope and to love’”.
That says a lot about why we gather here tonight, doesn’t it? We all cling to whatever we can that might give us hope. We hold on to cherished memories, a photo, some thing or another – and anything that might bring us peace and deepen our sense of hope as we confront the reality of grief and loss.
Yet, for as much as we hold on to memories, they don’t heal our broken hearts, do they? Every one of us would rather have our loved ones with us, in the flesh, breathing and singing in this Cathedral. Why? Because any death, whether it comes after a long, wonderful life or unexpectedly in the life of an infant just a few days old; whether it comes peacefully in one’s sleep, or violently in an accident or by one’s own hands, is painful. And any death can cause profound grief. Even Jesus grieved over the death of his friend Lazarus. Why wouldn’t we?
In the midst of the pain that so often emerges in our lives from the loss of a loved one, however, I beg you not to discount the treasure that comes our way through faith – the treasure that is ours when we pause, as we do this night, to welcome God into our lives and hearts.
As we pray for our loved ones this evening, we do so in the context of the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Reflect with me for just a moment on the wonderful gospel story proclaimed this evening from Saint Luke: the appearance of Jesus on the road to Emmaus. From the very beginning days of the Church, Saint Luke’s gospel is very clear about the way Jesus continues to be present to his followers – the Church. Jesus is present in the guise of a stranger on the road in the midst of human dialogue. … He speaks through the sacred scriptures. … And Jesus is recognized in the simple act of breaking bread – just as he was with his disciples on the night before he died.
Brothers and sisters, what we encounter here this evening is exactly what those two disciples experienced on the road to Emmaus on the very day of the resurrection. We are at no disadvantage! The very same Jesus is here – in our midst – in this great cathedral. While we can’t see and touch him any more than his disciples did once he had vanished from their sight – he continues to speak to us in the Word of God proclaimed, in our shared fellowship, and in the Eucharist, the sacrament of his body and blood. He is here. He is present to us. And he is as alive as our hearts give him room to live.
If we can so affirm that Jesus is our midst, why would we doubt for a moment that our loved ones who have died are also present?
Saint Paul dispels such doubts in this evening’s second reading from his letter to the Church of Rome. If we have been baptized into Jesus’ death – if we have died with him to sin and embraced his self-giving love – we believe that we will also live with him. The simple blessing of our faith assures us of this reality.
What a great source of consolation! … Yet take care, my friends, that as we seek encouragement from the words of Saint Paul, we continue to embrace our baptismal responsibility to put on Christ and to make the example of his self-giving love our own. Jesus was raised from the dead because of his selfless sacrifice on the cross for our life and our salvation. In the mystery of God, we will find the hope that we need to move forward in peace not solely in memories of departed loved ones, but also in lives of service – lives of selfless love – lives that look beyond ourselves to provide meaning, consolation and hope to those who – like us – suffer, mourn and grieve. Lives that welcome and care for others, just like the two disciples welcomed a stranger on the road to Emmaus.
Remember once again those words of the great Saint Augustine recounted by Pope Francis. “Whatever our state of life, we cannot live without these three dispositions of the soul, namely, to believe, to hope and to love”. Faith – belief in the power of God – draws us together this night to pray, doesn’t it? No matter how fragile we may think that gift is, the fact that we are present in this cathedral to celebrate the Holy Eucharist affirms God’s presence in our lives. And that very gift of faith opens us up to hope – a hope that only grows when we fortify it by love – by selfless love and service of those whom God places within our lives. … Recall the words of the Saint Francis of Assisi, “For it is in giving that we receive and it is in dying to ourselves that we are born to eternal life.”
Brothers and sisters, I hope and pray that this time of worship is a moment of blessing for you. I hope and pray that through faith, we come to appreciate that we are united forever, not only to the Risen Jesus, but to the great communion of saints who are a part of his body – the Church – the saints of this world and the next – the saints whom we know as our daughters and sons, our husbands and wives, our mothers and fathers, our sisters, brothers and friends who have passed into the eternity of God – and for whom we pray this day.
This great gift – more than all others – is the source of true and lasting hope!