WEBVTT

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In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

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of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We're gathered here

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to offer our condolences and support, and to

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share the grief, shared grief, for this family

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of this pious and sweet woman that lies before

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us. We're gathered here to pray that God receives

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her. How many times have we said, Lord, have

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mercy, that her sins be forgiven. That she walks

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in the way that the Lord has given her. So many

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times. And this is our prayer. This is the reason

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for a funeral. And it may seem like nothing's

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happening. You hear choir sing. You hear the

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clergy say some things. And the choir. And the

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back and forth. But there's a lot happening.

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When a person dies, it looks like nothing has

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happened. From that point forward. Except bad

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things. Decay. And destruction. And then sorrow

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and then grief and all of that that comes. No

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matter how old a person is, we feel and we should

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feel grief. No matter how pious and well a person

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lived, we should be sorrowful. For God has not

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created us for death. One of the hymns we sang

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says, I'm an image of thine, O Lord, ineffable

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glory. even though I bear the marks of sin. And

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this is an important thing for us to recall,

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that we are created to be a reflection of Jesus

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Christ himself, who is the image. We are an image

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of the image. And when you see someone in the

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tomb, in the grave before you, when you see someone

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suffering in the hospital, when you see someone

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grieving and afraid, whatever it might be, You

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say, where's that image? But it's there. We bear

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the marks of sin. Our task, brothers and sisters,

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today, of course, is to pray that her image is

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bright. Because it's impossible for us to know.

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We judge people all the time upon their appearances.

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I think it's C .S. Lewis says something like,

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you might see a person while waiting for the

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bus. And God's destiny for that person might

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be ineffable glory so that they will be brighter

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than any angel. And it's kind of frightening

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that we just look at people and pass them by.

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So the image of God in her and us is something

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we have to celebrate. We have to nurture. But

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as she has died and now her soul is with the

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Lord, We celebrate that life. We move from grief

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to glorification of God. In between, we're praying

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for her. So something is happening here. Quite

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a lot is happening here as we are praying. And

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we stand still. And maybe in our hearts and our

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souls, something will ignite and come alive so

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that we're not just standing still and not listening,

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but we are being enveloped. participating in

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the life of heaven and the kingdom of God. There's

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a prayer that we said, the psalmist said to the

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Lord, how many are my days, O Lord? And another

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prayer, another statement, O Lord, I have love

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like commandments. They're my meditation all

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day long. And that was true of her in the final

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years. in her way and you may say well she was

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retired she had nothing else to do but brothers

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and sisters we can meditate how often do we fill

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our minds with things that are kind of pointless

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and distracting and fill us with anxiety and

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anxiousness while we could say to the lord i

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love thy law oh lord it is my meditation all

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the day long in between everything else i do

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it's what holds it all together and so we have

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an example of that with her And so we give glory

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to God for that. And this phrase, O Lord, how

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many are my days? There's two ways at least to

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take it. How many days do I have so I can keep

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doing this other stuff I'm doing before I need

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to take things seriously about my faith, about

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my life, about my relationships, about my passions,

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about my sins? How much longer can I go until,

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like, you know, D -Day? Or we say, Lord, how

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long is it until you come on the clouds of glory,

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appearing in your ineffable mercy and love? Love

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that's a burning, all -consuming fire of love.

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How many days before that? That's what we should

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say so we prepare ourselves for death. Perhaps

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he did that too. But in any case, we ask God

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that he will, on the day he does come in his

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glory, when he appears to all, and when we say

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he will come, it doesn't mean he's gone. Why

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else would we be here if he was gone? What would

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we be doing here if he was gone? No, we stand

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in the midst of the Lord. But when he does come

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and appears in his glory with the hosts of angels,

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we ask that he will take her up and she will

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ever be with the Lord. And with us, death will

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be destroyed. We will rise to glory and be ever

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with the Lord. May the Lord answer that prayer

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for her and for each one of us. I offer you,

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dear family, my condolences and my love. And

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my admiration for your sacrifice as taking care

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of her, which is not a sacrifice. It was a labor

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of love. It was a gift of God to you to do that.

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And I admire her for her life and her faith.