“We know that this life is not the final story.

We come together as believers to remind ourselves of the truths of faith,

that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came among us,

worked with human hands, loved with a human heart,

cried with human tears, took on all things human

in order to ransom and save us from darkness and sin.

And in his death, three days later, fulfillment of all the ancient prophecies,

he rose from the dead destroying forever, the kingdom of sin and death.

Which is why when one of his own dies,

he comes and he welcomes us as the Good Shepherd into eternal life.

And we, the children of God, we the members of Christ's body,

we get to share in that work.

We get to participate in the work of our Redeemer

in bringing Maryanne into paradise.

This means as baptized Christians we pray for our beloved dead. We remember them.

We ask that the purgation that's given to them as they pass on this life to the next

by the work of the Son of God be done quickly,

that God give eternal rest to Maryanne, that he open wide the gates of Paradise.

We come in order to be a part of that work.

Just as we we share in the salvation of one another in this life,

so we share in Christ the work of salvation into eternity.”

Fr. Jeffrey Kirby

Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church

Lancaster, SC

Diocese of Charleston

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Funeral Homily - "We know that this life is not the final story."